The Legend of Link: The Bastard Prince
by WritesWithQuill
Summary: "If this was going to go down as another Legend, she wanted it to be named after him: 'The Legend of Link: The Bastard Prince.' And this time, it was Zelda's turn to be the hero." 20 years after the Twilight Era, two new heroes are called to save Hyrule from Demise one last time. M for swearing, violence, death and sexual references. Slow start. Complete!
1. Prologue

_DISCLAIMER:_ _The Legend of Zelda series - specifically Twilight Princess, since this story takes place 20 years after it's events - belongs to Nintendo, only this story, the two main characters and a handful of other characters belong to me._

 _This story is rated T+ for swearing, violence, death and sexual themes, none of which feature in this Prologue. As it progresses, it may become M, but it likely won't change._

 _This has not be beta checked so all errors are my own. Each chapter will be read at least three times before posting, but there may still be SPaG or continuity errors that I miss; I am only one person editing this, please bear with me._

 _This will be regularly updated every Saturday evening - UK time - meaning the first proper chapter will be posted tomorrow at around about this time._

 _Please review, ask questions, whatever; just let me know that there are actually people reading this! You can also follow me and ask me questions on Twitter if you'd like, I have the same username there, minus an 's' on the end. Be forewarned that I may not answer everything though!_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _Prologue_

18 years ago, three children were born bearing their respective pieces of Triforce.

One was born to a Queen and her husband. The kingdom exalted over the Goddess' line continuing and prayed for her safety, longevity and Wisdom in caring for her future people.

Another was born to a woman and her husband in the world of humans, her elfin traits having washed out over years of Hylian interbreeding with humans. However, her ears still retained a point, her darker eyes were still blue and her dark hair bleached itself dirty blonde in the untamed sun. There was no doubting her lineage, so her parents and career wished only the best for her, hoping she would live a fruitful life unaware of the burden of her blood.

The third was born to the Hero and a woman who was not his to lay with. The situation of his birth made him hated by many, but he grew up free of their judging eyes until it was time for him to begin the life meant for a hero of the kingdom. His father only hoped that his Courage would be strong enough for him to live his life free of their judgement. Strong enough to let him be a better man than he ever was.

* * *

Ten years ago, these three lost a parent - the girls lost their mothers and the boy his father - and their young lives were set on the course of saving the kingdom from malice yet again.

* * *

The Princess grew up curt and serious, knowing her duty was to the kingdom and respecting the power that her blood granted her. By her side always was her childhood friend, one who eventually became her personal knight. They protected each other, promised each other their lives and let no one say one or the other was unfit for the duties dropped into their young laps. Her father was to serve as regent until she comes of age, only two months from now. Yet he passed a month ago, dropping the burden of the crown onto her lap three months before she can be crowned…

* * *

Eight years ago, the Hero's son moved into his father's old treehouse in a farming province of the kingdom, leaving his mother behind.

He presented himself before the Princess when he came to the region and explained the circumstances of his birth, hoping she would accept him as the rightful hero-knight of the kingdom. However, his circumstances as a bastard child only earned him a hated status by everyone but the most forgiving of the kingdom.

So, the child adopted a cynical outlook on life, a charming yet twisted smile on his face as he took the name belonging to the Princess' personal knight in exchange for his own. Soon, he learnt that many people – even the occasional Zora - were attracted to the "outlaw" status that the Princess had given him. The Hero's son became well known by many names, but he enjoyed his debaucherous ones the most as he lived the life the Princess had allowed him in a kingdom that hated him.

"Alarink" the Bastard Hero was well known throughout Hyrule by the time he was called to protect it.

* * *

For ten years after her mother's and career's deaths, the "human" Triforce bearer lived her life with only her father to count on in a completely different United Kingdom.

Without fail, her father would buy her the latest "Legend" of a Princess she thought she was only named after. The girl would play all of them immediately, never once thinking to question why it was so imperative that she play each one as soon as they came out. She only saw them as a way to keep in contact with her deceased mother, she didn't see the real reason why she was playing them until after she had been introduced to their world. Until after she realised that her odd triangle shaped birthmark on her dominant hand was much more than the simple skin discolourment that she had always been told it was.

Now comes the day that Zelda is taken from her simple University life to save a kingdom that she had always assumed fictitious from a malice one more time…

* * *

 _AN:_

 _Just a couple things I want to say here. All technical things will be put before the chapters, but any little personal anecdotes will be put below, so if you're ever interested about my process, when I wrote this, where I got my inspiration, check out this section._

 _So, this story idea first came to me about two, maybe longer, years ago but I only started to think about actually writing it after BOTW came out in March. I actually started writing it over my A-Level exams in May, so this chapter was written in May while the last one was written... Yesterday. Yeah, long gap between starting and finishing due to a multitude of different reasons that I'll mention as the chapters go by because some people are really interested in people's process - I know I am._

 _This Prologue was written back at the end of May after I finished my scene plans for the entire story. It gave me something else to do, something to cheer me up during exam season. And I have loved every minute of writing this, I have fallen in love with my characters so much that I can't wait for everyone else to meet them too, to read some 100,000+ words I created!_

 _Yeah, it's pretty long: 20 chapters plus this Prologue averaging about 4,900 words per chapter (minus notes), though some are shorter and most are a fair bit longer... But hey, 20 weeks of this story coming your way and a decent chunk of writing each week - and I really hope you all enjoy it, because I really loved writing it!_

 _On that note, the first proper chapter will come out tomorrow, introducing you to the main two people I created - the human Zelda and Alarink the 'Bastard Hero'._

 _Why is he called that, you'll have to read to find out! But seriously, I've never loved a character I've made more than Alarink, so I hope you come to love him with time too._

 _Anyway, that's about all for this, I'll see you again tomorrow for more. Check out my Profile on here - if you're a Fire Emblem fan, check out my other stories (I've gotten a fair bit better since then) - check out my Twitter, rate, review and ask questions and tell me what you think! I'll answer as much as possible, but nothing I deem too personal, too spoilery or just not important or appropriate._

 _Enjoy!_

 _~WWQ_

* * *

 _3/2/18 Update:_

 _For anyone reading this for the first time now, I was intending to come back and edit some of my ANs so that they weren't so preppy and annoying before publishing Chapter 12. In the span of these 12 weeks, I've really been worn down by the lack of people reading this and I felt that maybe the start should reflect this as well._

 _I changed my mind on that, it's far more fun to see the loss of hope over the course of chapters rather than see something without hope to begin with. Especially since, as I lose hope, the chapters get better._

 _So, if you don't like the start of this, skip ahead to the last 3000ish words (after the in chapter line break) of 12 and it'll give you a spoilery overview of everything that's happened in a much better written way. Then come back an read it again if you like, I really don't care. I just thought I should mention that it doesn't stay this bad and I don't stay this optimistic the whole time._

 _So, yeah, enjoy or whatever - check out my BOTW Urbosa oneshot if you want something shorter and immediately decent._

 _~The worn down, start of February, WWQ._

* * *

 _31/3/18 Update:_

 _Now that this is finished, I imagine it'll get a few more views and reads from people reading it all the way through at once. If you manage it in one sitting, I applaud you, this is over 100,000 words long and that takes dedication._

 _But what I wanted to mention to you new readers is that I loved every minute of writing and sharing this. And while I planned on coming back and editing all these notes, I'm glad I haven't. They show every emotion I experienced over posting this up and writing it in the first place. And I'm honestly a little sad for it to be finished._

 _But, I was a mess for most of the posting of this, and now I'm mostly back on track. This story was my safe space when I was a mess, something routine I could count on. Now I've got routines elsewhere, now I need to let it go._

 _I'll still come back and read this from time to time and I hope you do too._

 _So enjoy, the complete, now M rated, Legend of Link: The Bastard Prince._

 _~WWQ_


	2. 1 Hyrule

_This chapter contains swearing and violence._ _And England._ _(For everyone reading outside the UK, I will be using British spelling and the occasional British idiom throughout.)_

* * *

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _1\. Hyrule_

"I don't understand why you're so angry." Deep within a University hall in the UK, a long-haired brunette clutched her new Nintendo Switch to her chest as she argued with her _'boyfriend'_.

"I'm angry because you blew off our date - _again_ \- so that you could go buy a new console and game with your dad, Zelda!" He shouted at her gesturing to the box she had clasped to her chest.

In all fairness, this was true.

A week ago, Zelda's father had asked her to come with him to the local Game to buy a Switch and Breath of the Wild at midnight yesterday - the day it came out. There had been no hesitation in her voice when she said yes, hell, it wasn't until she came back this morning that she realised that she'd ditched Danny for the third time… That week.

In her defense, most guys would have realised that she wasn't that interested by now. But this guy…

"Dan, you should have realised I was going to get a Switch on the night of release, you know me and Dad buy every Zelda game at launch," she said as she put her Switch back on her desk. "I'm sorry I forgot to tell you, but I put it all over Facebook, you could have seen it there and pointed it out to me through that."

"And have everyone see that we are having relationship problems?!"

"We're not even in a relationship!" Shouted she, exasperated by it all. She'd had less than four hours sleep and had only been awake for half of one when Danny came knocking on her door earlier. All she wanted to do was play her game; she couldn't be dealing with his crap right now.

"Well… I want to be. What do you say?" Danny stood in her door way, scuffing his shoes as he finally got to the point that he had been dodging the last three times he had asked her on ' _dates_ '.

Really, it took all of her strength not to laugh in his face after everything he'd said to her this morning, all the profanities he had yelled as her friends and neighbours walked past her ajar door. "I say: I will always choose a game over a guy. Ta-ta, Danny."

As fast as she could – which wasn't actually that fast due to his squirming - she pushed him out of the room, listening to him mutter, mumble and yell swears at her as she did, nodding politely to anyone who was still lingering in the corridor. With him finally out of her room, she locked the door and set up her new console.

It brought a pang to her chest to do this without her mother.

Sure, it had been a decade since her death, but this was always something she had done with her: set up the latest Zelda machine and play the latest installment. Indeed, it had always surprised her how her mum seemed to know exactly what was going to happen and when in the game, it was almost as if she had experienced them herself in some cases.

As she cleared a space to sit on the floor, her back against her bed, Zelda thought about the last game she'd played with her mum before the car accident that took her, and her aunt Immy, away.

Twilight Princess.

It brought back so many memories when she played it again in HD with her dad last year. Both of them were in tears by the end of it, not because of the story, but for it being the last story they had shared with Zelda Sr.

Shaking her head, to get rid of the sad memories and the fact that she wasn't able to play with her dad today due to his work (and her lectures which she was skipping), she started up the game on the TV, a stupid grin on her face as she watched stills of Link flash over the title screen. The grin persisted as she saw the title come on a black screen, her hands shaking in excitement as the game started up.

Then something odd happened.

In all of the gameplay she had seen prior to release, the Princess could be heard faintly calling Link's name, telling him to open his eyes. What Zelda heard was her own name, coming in the tones of a familiar voice.

Were her ears deceiving her, or was her mother calling her name from within the TV, telling her to open her eyes?

"Zelda…" It was faint, so she lent up to the TV and stared at the still black screen.

"Open your… eyes…" A pool of colour filled the centre split of the screen, unfocused but depicting a green field with a clouded sky above. Confusion persisted in Zelda's mind.

"Face the truth, Zelda…" The split on the screen opened wider, letting more of the distorted field into Zelda's view.

"These are no legends." She was certain it was her mother's voice and unconsciously reached for her, raising a hand to the split of colour on the TV screen.

"It's time for you to learn, Zelda… Learn about your lineage…

"Open your eyes, Lost Princess… Face the truth of the Legends."

Deep blue eyes were reflected back in the screen and Zelda saw the determination on her pale face as she reached into the screen; resting a hand on the floor to support her on her knees as she looking into the screen.

"Come, Zelda. Come to me…!"

Reaching her birth-marked right hand to touch the opening on the screen, she felt it ripple under her touch like a water surface. Frowning, she reached further in until her entire forearm was submerged in the screen and the field it showed.

Completely confused by the phenomenon, she began to pull her arm back, afraid of the unknown living just beyond her screen. As she began to pull back, something grabbed her from the other side, pulling her hard. With a gasp, her entire arm and shoulder became submerged in the screen, her head followed soon after.

"Ow!" Exclaimed she as her head collided with the top of the screen, causing her to close her eyes in pain as she was pulled the rest of the way through. When she opened her eyes again - rubbing her wrist that was sore where it had been forcibly grabbed - the scene before her was something she had only seen in her games.

Before her was an open expanse of field, dotted here and there with trees, a cobbled path running across the length just to the right of her. There were no sheep - the kind of which you could find dotting almost every field of this size in the UK - but there were… _Things_ wondering around the field. They were definitely not human, but Zelda doubted they were animal either.

It was a lot for her mind to process as she sat slumped on her knees, staring at the scene before her. But there was no doubt.

Zelda had been dragged into Hyrule Field, though from which era she couldn't yet tell.

Shakily trying to get to her feet - knowing it would be foolish to continue to just sit and stare - the girl unknowingly attracted the attention of a Kargarok. With a screech it flew right at her, directly in her line of sight. With no other options, Zelda did what anyone in her confused, unarmed situation would do:

She screamed and threw her arms up to protect her face as she curled up defensively.

Just as she was about to close her eyes, as the creature bore down on her, a shock of movement entered her field of vision, coming in from her right. There was a clatter of hooves on stone and a whinny as Zelda lowered her arms as saw someone vault from the horse next to her with a "Hyah!"

With his right hand holding a long bow and his left drawing the string back, the man above her shot an arrow straight into the Kargarok's face, causing an instant, spasmodic death. The man fell to the floor in a crouch as the bird-monster did, putting his bow back onto the arranged mass of straps on his back. Zelda could see a short sword sheathed beneath his tunic as it rode up, it's handle ready to be draw in the left hand. There was also a quiver secured just above it on the straps on the tunic, facing the same direction so that arrows could be drawn quickly without falling out.

Zelda's eyes quickly rose from where they were focused on his weapons, thinking that if he turned around he would mistake her for staring at something else in the same area (though she had to admit that it _did_ look good, just not something she wanted to be caught looking at when she first meet someone). Her eyes instead rose to his torso that was hidden beneath a relatively shapeless, unbleached wool tunic that seemed to be only held on thanks to all the straps securing his weapons.

Finally, she looked up at the face of her saviour.

Chiselled and sharp, almost square jawed, secured onto broad shoulders by a muscular neck. His eyes still faced forward and were framed by long, dark lashes; in the sunlight, the irises appeared a clear, pale green, contrasting with his pale but work-tanned skin and almost black hair secured at the nape of his neck with a tattered piece of torn cloth.

Zelda had never been the kind of girl to judge a guy based on his looks, but she was on the brink of uttering a two syllable ' _damn'_ at the guy she could only assume was the Link of this Hyrule.

That was, until he spoke:

"Take that, you fucking bird! Think you can attack someone on my watch? Not likely, fucker! Why don't you go tell your big-billed bird friends what it's like to attack someone while I'm around? Oh wait, you can't, 'cause you're dead, bitch!" The man in front of her taunted the dead bird-monster loudly.

And just like that Zelda's illusions were shattered, much like that Kargarok's skull.

"Your ability to taunt and swear at a dead monster is very impressive." Zelda mumbled as she finally got to her feet, wiping grass and dirt from her legs. Stood next to him, she noted his height wasn't quite as impressive as it had seemed from her spot on the floor, he seemed to be only a few inches taller than her, though she was a tall 5'8" herself.

"I'm glad you approve," said he in reply to her mumblings, oblivious to the sarcasm. When not yelling profanities at dead creatures, his voice was light with an indeterminable accent - being in what she suspected was Hyrule, Zelda hesitated to call it European. "I like to make a point of yelling at anything I kill to warn off any other monsters who might try."

"Well, you've done a truly excellent job…" She muttered in response, her voice still dripping in sarcasm.

"Thank you." He took the compliment and turned to face her fully, squinting a little as his looked her up and down - likely taking in her tight black tank-top featuring a Triforce print, her three-quarter length leggings and ankle-high red Doc Martins. She certainly didn't look like she belonged in this field (or this world), but she stood her ground anyway, eyes hard when his met them again.

"I do have a question for you though." He raised his hand to scratch at his chin.

"Oh?"

"With a voice as lovely as yours, why in Hyrule do you only seem to use it to mutter sassy comments under your breath?" There was a charming grin on his features again and if she hadn't seen him squint, she would have thought it a permanent feature.

But all Zelda could really think in that moment was about how red her cheeks must have been as she turned her face away and mumbled a 'thank you' to him for saving her life.

"I'm sorry, darling, I didn't quite catch that." He joked, cupping and turning a pointed ear towards her. She noticed how it was pierced all the way to the tip with studs increasing in size from tip to lobe, where a small hoop rested.

"Thank you for saving me, I don't know what would have become of me if you hadn't been here." Zelda said in a clear and louder voice after a deep breath to decrease her blush, turning to face him again.

"You're welcome. And if I hadn't been here, you would have been that fucker's dinner." He kicked the bird's wing to make his point.

"Well then, thank you twice as much."

"You really are a sassy dear, aren't you?" Curiosity filled his tone when he asked this time, obviously not expecting her to answer. "Where did you come from, anyway?"

"Oh, I, uh…" She fumbled for an answer, not knowing exactly how to tell him she had been transported here through her TV in another realm. With a sigh, she realised she had no good answer for why she was sat in the middle of a field, so she muttered a half honest answer, "I… Don't really know how I ended up here…"

"Ah," the man breathed, seeming to understand much more than she'd said. "Well, you're going to need a place to stay while you get your bearings, how 'bout I take you to a hotel?"

"Um, thank you, that would be nice of you."

"Alright then," smiled the man, clearly glad to get something sorted. He turned to his horse - a chestnut coloured mare with a white snout, mane and tail - and grabbed a wool cloak. "Put this on, I don't want your fashion sense to attract the wrong kind of people."

"Thanks…" Zelda mumbled as she took the cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. It was surprisingly soft and warm, making her realise how cold her exposed arms had been.

"Not a problem, now up you come!" He grabbed her right hand in his left to help her up onto his horse.

"Wait, I-" She said, worrying about the fact that she had never been on a horse before as the man took her hand. Zelda's protests were cut short when their hands connected, a vibration of power coursing through her veins at the connection. With a gasp, she looked down at their hands and noticed her half-triangle birthmark was glowing gold. A paler gold Triforce outline appeared around it, showing her mark to be half the leftmost triangle. Glancing at the man's hand, she noticed that the entirety of the rightmost triangle was glowing a deep gold ringed in cyan.

Suddenly, she snapped her head up to squint at the man before her and noticed that his pale turquoise - not the green she had originally thought - eyes were wide as he stared at her, his lips slightly parted in surprise. He shook his head and hardened his gaze as he looked at her again.

"What's your name?" Asked he finally, breaking the silence that had descended on them, their hands still connected but no longer glowing nor vibrating with power.

"Zelda." She replied clearly, knowing this was no time to be mumbling in confusion, slight fear or sarcasm.

"Just as I thought…" The man mumbled, turning slightly to finally help her up onto the horse, ignoring her squeals of protest.

"Listen, Zelda," spoke he seriously as she looked down at him from atop the horse, his choppy bangs nearly falling into his eyes as he looked up. "You're not going to be able to go around calling yourself 'Zelda' here in Hyrule, that name is reserved for the royal family. I recommend you call yourself something similar, like Zoelda."

"Zo-elda?" She repeated incredulously. "You want me to go around calling myself 'Zoelda'?"

"Yes. Just trust me on this and do it, Zoelda. Names have enormous power here in Hyrule, you don't want to let just anyone know who you really are."

"Oh, is that what you do then?" Asked she snappily as he got onto the horse and settled himself behind her. "Do you, the man I assume to be called Link, the Hero of the kingdom, not go around calling yourself Link because you don't want anyone to know who you are?"

Grabbing the reins of the horse from around her, the man erupted into laughter. Deep, rich, mocking laughter.

"Darling, everyone knows who I am." He said it bluntly and simply, just a hint of cynicism and mocking beneath the words that could have gone unheard if not for his accent. "But, like you, I am not allowed to go by my birth name. So call me Alarink, not Link. Okay?"

"Okay… But why are you allowed to be known and I am not?" The girl now calling herself Zoelda asked simply as he cracked the reins and the horse bolted into motion, instinctively following the cobbled path before it. Suppressing a squeal, she gripped the saddle tightly enough for her knuckles to turn white.

"Because," Alarink whispered into her ear as the horse galloped across the field. "You have just set some timeline changing events into motion, my dear."

* * *

 _AN:_

 _So, this chapter was written probably early June, can't say for sure though and, if I remember right, across two, maybe three sittings._

 _Literally the only purpose of it is to get Zoelda out of England and into Hyrule and to introduce her and Alarink as main characters; the sassy Brit and the not-what-you'd-expect Hero. Danny's only purpose is to show her single mindedness towards the Legend of Zelda, he really isn't important so think of him what you want._

 _I knew a while before I started planning the story that I wanted Alarink to be introduced majestically and then break all your first impressions of him as the hero of Hyrule by having him swear at a monster. It's just the perfect way to show exactly who this character is, with influences from other game, book and TV characters thrown all together to make someone so unique that I honestly can't tell you his original inspiration anymore. He's just Alarink._

 _And good news to anyone thinking that Zoelda is just another damsel in distress, I'm fairly sure this is the only time she's saved by monsters in the entire story - she kills the rest herself, as you'll see soon. Her inspiration has been lost over the course of writing as well, though she's also influenced by characters in the same games, books and TV shows as Alarink, but ultimately she's just an opposite Princess Zelda - she takes care of herself as best she can in a world she's not so familiar with, she only relies on Alarink or the others (introduced in a few chapters) for direction and guidance in a world that's not her own._

 _So yeah, I'll let you see the rest for yourself as they grow with the chapters._

 _Anyway, any other questions, advice on how I could improve, anything really - you can review here or find me on Twitter._

 _Hope to see you for the next chapter next Saturday in which we set the scene and introduce Zoelda to this world a little more! (It's a little bit long as I tried to cover all the general introduction stuff in one chapter.)_

 _~WWQ_


	3. 2 Ordona

_This chapter contains swearing and sexual references._

 _Due to not having access to the internet this weekend, I am updating this a day earlier than usual - it will still normally be updated on Saturdays._

* * *

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _2\. Ordona_

Zoelda didn't bother to ask questions as they galloped their way across the field; she was too in shock at being on horseback for the first time with a man she'd only just met to know _what_ to ask him. Hell, even if she tried asking him anything, the wind would have snatched the words from her before he could hear them. So, she simply gripped the saddle for dear life as they crossed the road spanning the expanse of field, taking in everything she came across with the curious interest of someone who had only ever seen the scene before her in pixels, not a tangible reality.

They slowed to a trot as the trees became taller and thicker and the light became darker and more sparse. Entering the woods, Zoelda started to get a feeling of where she was in terms of which Hyrule and what timeline she was in. She didn't bother to ask yet, fearing Alarink might laugh at her for being wrong or have no idea what she was talking about, so she continued to view the world around her in fascination, noting that not much seemed to have changed from when she first saw this world in pixels over a decade ago.

The horse slowed to a walk as the trees got sparser and the light started to filter through to reach them again. The sunlight was less strong now, making Zoelda note that it was around mid-afternoon. With a start, she realised that she had arrived in Hyrule mid-morning and had been running across that field for several hours; it came as even more of a shock to her that she wasn't yet hungry, but she put that down to the fact that she was feeling a little sick after riding on horseback for the first time, especially with how quickly the horse changed gaits and how uneven the path had become as they rode through the forest and off the paved path of the field.

Finally, Alarink reined in his mare and dismounted.

And it was all Zoelda could do not to gape as she looked around the small opening before her.

It was almost the same as she remembered it to be the first time she saw it in pixels, sat next to her mother on the floor of their living room, a wiimote in one hand and nunchuk in the other. There were obvious alterations: the lower level of the treehouse was slightly shorter than Zoelda remembered, with the second floor now being bigger and opening out into a small patio area on a naturally railed balcony. Being carved out of a tree, the home itself still seemed to be in touch with its natural roots, and even still seemed to be in touch with its former owner's requirements.

The one difference in the house that truly caught her eye, however, was a banner that hung just over the door. It was a black banner, trimmed in a blue thread and embroidered with the symbol of the golden Triforce, the rightmost triangle trimmed with the same blue thread as the rest of the banner. Truthfully, she found it to look a little incongruous to its setting and what she knew about its former owner.

Alarink helped her down from the mare with a smirk as he followed her gaze to the treehouse dominating the opening. "Admiring my abode, dear? You're certainly not the first person to be love-struck by it, but I've never met one like you who stares at it as though their trying to remember where they've seen something so similar before."

"This was the Hero of the Twilight Era's home, wasn't it?" He blinked at her asking with such confidence - ignoring his flirting entirely - almost as though she didn't need his answer to confirm her suspicions. "How long has it been since the Era of Twilight ended?"

"...You are surprisingly knowledgeable for someone who appeared in a field out of nowhere." Said Alarink after a pause, gathering up the mare's reins in one hand and smoothing her mane with the other. Zoelda watched the way he stared up at the house as he answered her, a flash of reminiscence on his features as though he was remembering a time both fond and painful. "Yes, this house used to belong to Twilight Link, his era was a little over a score of years ago now. I… Inherited it eight years ago. I've not made many changes to the exterior since then - aside from the balcony - the interior on the other hand…"

Zoelda missed the suggestive tone at the end of his sentence, lost in thought at the fact that she was standing in a world that had been the last that her mother and she had experienced. Shocked at the knowledge that the man before her had inherited this house from the former hero. "I'm sorry, but… When you say inherited, do you mean that you got this house after Twilight Link died? Was he, was he your father?"

He smirked at her again, pulling an apple from a saddlebag for his mare. "Surprised to see that he raised a chatty flirt?" There was a dark chuckle that Zoelda could only stand shocked through. "Yes, Father… He wasn't the best of people. A good hero, perhaps, but a little absentee in his parenting. Not that I can really blame him, knowing what I know now… But I vowed that I would never hide my true nature like he did. So, yes, darling, this was the last - and only - gift Father left me after he died ten years ago. Admittedly, I didn't actually move in until eight years ago, though… Not that you asked any of this, did you?"

"I, um, I'm sorry for your loss," she said in response, not really knowing what else _to_ say. "I-I know what it's like to lose a parent, so I know what you're going through…"

"Hah!" Alarink barked out an ugly laugh and began to walk his horse down the path into Ordon village, Zoelda following next to him, watching the ugly smirk on his face reach his eyes and harden them to a glare beneath his bangs. "While I appreciate the sentiment, Zoelda, there's no way you can relate to what I've been through."

"Um, okay, may I ask then-" He held up a hand to stop her question before she started.

"Darling, I will answer any question you have for me at a later time, but can you please be silent when we are among others? There are going to be many things shouted at you and I as we go through the village, it will be better if you don't say anything in response to them. Is that okay?"

"I guess, but what are we-" Zoelda emitted a startled yelp as Alarink wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, leading his horse with his other hand.

"Hush, darling," whispered he as they approached the opening to the village. "Be silent now and don't look too surprised at what you here. Look demure, if you can. Although, with your sass, perhaps sultry will be an easier look. Just don't gape, alright?"

Half angry at this stranger thinking he had the right to tell her how to look, Zoelda settled on a challenging glare as the village opened up before her.

Much like everything else she had seen so far, the village also seemed to have changed little in the score of years that had passed since the Twilight era she remembered. There were perhaps three more little cottages that Zoelda noticed immediately, and there was a small boat on the lake that she assumed to either be a recreational fishing boat or a fun way to spend time for the village children. The crop plots were a bit bare after just being sown for the year, only a few green sprouts coming through here and there and the local pets seemed to be exclusively cats, many of which were batting their paws in the streams, attempting to catch fish. Surprisingly, they were leaving the Cuccos alone as they went about their business, but Zoelda imagined that the cats, much like the hawks circling above, had learnt not to mess with the Cuccos the hard way.

In actuality, Zoelda noticed very little on her visit through the village, apart from the fact that a handful of the locals - just over a dozen lived in the village in all, she suspected - were jeering at her and Alarink as they passed through.

"There he is, our Bastard Hero returned!"

"And who is this new conquest at your side, Mr. Hero?"

"Fed up of Ursila already? She won't like seeing you with a new bird on your hip!"

"Is everyone in Hyrule this sexist?" Zoelda muttered under her breath as she kept her challenging scowl in place.

"No, we're actually a rather progressive society on the whole. I'm merely the local philanderer and any woman with the self-esteem low enough to walk through town with me is often looked down on. You can't expect even the most progressive society to have no people who slut shame, dear, the world just wouldn't work without arseholes in it." He flashed her a grin as they crossed the bridge to the south side of the village. "And didn't I tell you to be hush?"

"Dick." Mumbled she in response, though she was now focusing on something else, namely the fact that there seemed to be a generational gap in the village. Much to her confusion, Zoelda had noticed a significant lack of older people in the village, everyone seemed to be younger than perhaps 25, she'd guess there was only two or three people in the entire village over thirty, a fact she was found very surprising. It was also a fact that helped to distract her from the incessant name calling and jeering at her and Alarink, though she did register a few names on occasion, the most frequent of which being "Bastard Hero".

Zoelda was just about to ask Alarink about this as they reached the house just before the stables, the place she recognised to be the home of the village mayor. Once again, the home of the mayor seemed to have changed little in terms of exterior, though - as she walked in to the house guided by Alarink's hand on the small of her back - she was quite surprised to see the difference in the interior.

With a little difficulty, she recalled it being a large and uncluttered room leading to a sumo wrestling chamber. Now, as the room opened up before her in reality, she noticed that it was a lot more cluttered. There were scrolls and parchment littering multiple desks, and even the floor. The door leading to the former wrestling chamber now seemed to open out into a fencing room, and the walls of the main room were covered in family trees, a great number of which had generations stuck from them in hastily drawn, thick lines. Most of the people struck from the trees (recognisable names to even her) had the word "PESTILENCE" written next to them, leading Zoelda to start to put two and two together about what happened to the older generation of the village.

Just as she was about to ask what they were doing in here, Zoelda noticed a figure begin to move from the sofa - the mayor of Ordon village. It was all she could do not to gape once again as she recognised who he was. A little shorter than the two of them, with a carefully trimmed blonde beard and hair cut revealing rounded ears, dressed in a simple wool tunic and draws, a man in perhaps his late thirties faced them, with a down-turned yet hardened set of blue eyes looking the two of them up and down in the doorway. Here and there, his hair was flecked with grey and his face was ever so slightly wrinkled, but there was no doubting who the man before them was.

"Mayor Colin, how are you today?" Alarink greeted him kindly, a hand outstretched to shake his. The mayor regarded it carefully before declining to shake it.

"Alarink," Colin nodded to him. "If you're looking for Ursila, I'm afraid she's not here right now," the blonde made a passing glance over Zoelda before continuing, "and you've got quite the nerve bringing a new woman to the house of the last one you 'dated'."

"Oh, no," Alarink almost laughed. "No, I'm not here for Ursila, and she and I both knew that was a onetime thing."

"Hmph," the Mayor grunted, picking up a few pieces of parchment from the floor in a simple attempt to clean the room for guests. "After everything I did for you, Alarink, you've got some nerve to sleep with my little sister! By the Goddesses, she's almost twice your age!"

"And she initiated it," replied the other man, giving a parchment from the floor to Colin as he did. "Look, I'm not here to discuss your sister right now, I'm here to discuss you getting a message to the Castle for me."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm not allowed to go to the Castle without an audience and I really need to tell the Princess about this woman right here." Alarink gestured expressively to Zoelda who was looking at a family tree next to the door, noting just how many had lost their lives to this "PESTILENCE". She blinked in surprise and smiled sheepishly at the Mayor, who simply stared back tiredly at her.

"I'm sure the Princess will be really excited to hear about your newest conquest…" Said he sarcastically.

"No, Zelda's not a conquest," Alarink took her right hand in his left again, revealing her half Triforce for the mayor to see. Surprise coloured Colin's features as he blinked, staying shocked as Alarink dropped her hand. "She's something much more interesting."

"Does she have any idea?" Colin asked as though Zoelda wasn't standing right there.

"None whatsoever. She's going by the name 'Zoelda' to protect her as much as possible, but I don't know how much more I should tell her."

"If I can weigh in," Zoelda said, not enjoying all the secrecy. "I would like to be told as much as possible if it's involving me."

"As much as I would like to," the mayor said, already stood at the table writing a letter to the Princess. "I don't know what's appropriate _to_ say in this situation. But, trust Alarink's gut, Zoelda. And get to the castle tomorrow, the Princess will be able to tell you more."

"Thank you for your assistance, Mr Mayor." Said Alarink with a smile as Colin finished writing his letter to the Castle and stuffed it in an envelope. The brunet put his hand on the small of Zoelda's back again to guide her out of the house with the mayor following behind them, holding the hastily written letter.

Once again, the locals started jeering at Alarink as soon as he reappeared, like he was some sort of scandalous celebrity. The name calling came to a surprising halt as the Mayor came out behind them. Zoelda noticed that Colin didn't say anything to get them to stop, he didn't even change expression from his resting half-smile, he just followed them out. Evidently, so she thought, there was some sort of agreement between the Mayor and Alarink, though she had no idea what it could be.

Signalling a man in white running clothes over, the Mayor gave the letter to him, telling him to get it to the Castle post-haste. The messenger nodded expressively and took off. Colin took one last look at Alarink - who stood staring blankly out at the village - and smiled slightly before returning to his home, shutting the two out in the village that remained quiet for all of a second before beginning name calling once again.

Alarink silently guided Zoelda and the mare up the hill from the mayor's house to what she suspected to still be the ranch. She wondered if she imagined the slight twitch in Alarink's cheek when the silence of the town was broken to call him names again.

Once they were mostly out of earshot of the town below, Zoelda started her questioning again, opening with a statement to see how willing to talk he would be. "You and the Mayor seem to have a history."

"He helped me set myself up in Ordon, gave me a place to stay while I got the legalities of the treehouse sorted out, helped settle me in to a manual labour job on the ranch…" There was a genuine smile in his eyes as he reminisced this time, "Colin is one of the last people alive who knew Father well. He was also one of the only people willing to help me after Father's death."

"I noticed there weren't many older people in town, what happened to them?" She asked as the ranch came into view just above them, it's fences now tall enough for no horse to jump over yet, much like everything else, seemingly unaffected by the score of years that had passed since the Twilight era. "And your father, what happened to him?"

"The Pestilence." Said he shortly and simply, turning to look at her quizzical face for the first time since they left the mayor's house. Sighing and producing a key from the horse's saddlebag to open the gate with, he elaborated, "About a decade ago, a Pestilence appeared in Hyrule. As far as I know, it's only speculated to have originated from Ganondorf's current resting place in Gerudo Desert, but no one knows for sure. About all we know is it was quick, specific and fatal. Many involved with the events of the Twili was killed by it: Queen Zelda, the Goron chief, Telma, Impaz, most of the Resistance members… Link and his wife Ilia… Anyone and almost everyone from that Era was killed by this Pestilence in the matter of a week. Devastation reigned supreme and a generational gap is all that remains to show that it occurred."

Alarink opened the gate quietly after that, leading his mare in and leaving Zoelda to stand shocked by the bluntness with which he told her of the Pestilence. But one thing in his speech stood out with her, something that she had suspected from all the name calling, but didn't know how to ask about. So, she shrugged and decided to ask as carefully as she could, closing the gates and jogging over to where he was. "I'm so sorry for your loss, for _everyones_ loss over the Pestilence. But, and please forgive me for this, you said Link and his _wife_ Ilia, not your _mother_ Ilia. I heard what they were calling you in the village, 'The Bastard Hero'… I kinda just thought it was because you're a bit of a womanising prick-" he snorted as he opened the stable door "-but, are you a bastard child? Is your mother someone other than Ilia?"

Looking at her again, he wore a strange expression; anger mixed with self-loathing in his glaring eyes, a scornful smirk on his lips. It made him look old, almost monstrous rather than the charming young flirt she was somewhat used to seeing these past few hours. However, it was gone quickly, replaced by his smile yet again as he chuckled, gesturing for her to enter the stable.

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you, darling?" Was all he said in reply as he opened the door to the stable. "Perhaps I should ask you one, since you seem to know a fair bit about the Twilight Era?"

He entered the pen for his mare and closed the gate behind him as he started to remove the horse's saddle and bridle. Zoelda could only nod as he turned to face her again, pointing over her shoulder at the pen opposite them. "Do you know who that horse is?"

The horse was old and frail, is back worn after years of riding and muscle structure thinning to make its bones more pronounced. But her coat was still a clear brown, her mane and tail still clean and white. And her eyes were wise beyond her years, the eyes of a horse who didn't scare easy and had seen it all.

"Epona." Zoelda said in disbelief, reaching a hand out to stroke her snout, earning a slight snicker from the horse.

Behind her, Alarink was chuckling. "Yeah, the old dear's well worn, over twenty-two odd years now, bless her. Father loved her more than anything."

In spite of him being a relative stranger to her, Zoelda had heard and suspected enough to assume that was his way of answering her earlier question. She suspected that the old hero had been more faithful to this horse than any other female in his life, a fact she found hard to connect to what she had seen of the man in the game made of his Era. Then again, the game was likely altered from the actual story here and there; it wasn't too foolish of her to think that they could have made his character more likeable than Alarink was making him out to be. Or perhaps Alarink had simply had a hard upbringing and resented his father for that; perhaps Alarink had simply felt over shadowed by his father and felt the need to make a name for himself in some other way, such as sleeping around. It made just as much sense with all the information she had heard so far…

Zoelda shook her head, she really needed to stop getting involved with other people's family drama. Especially the drama of someone she barely knows.

"She's still beautiful," said Zoelda eventually, turning around with a hand still on Epona's snout. Opposite her, Alarink was leaning with his arms crossed atop his horse's gate, it's saddle and bridle now hung on the wall just outside the pen. The horse herself now had her back turned to the two of them as she ate. He was ginning at Zoelda in a way that made her slightly uncomfortable. "What?"

"Ah," he breathed, straightening from his leaning position, "I was just thinking about how special Epona is. Even you, someone I would argue is a little afraid of horses?" Zoelda made no comment, and Alarink simply shrugged. "Well, you never touched Malanya here, yet you're still petting her mother. Maybe it's just because you know who she is, but Epona's still managed to wrap you around her hoof and made you love her, hasn't she, darling?"

"Your horse is Epona's daughter?" Now that Zoelda looked at Malanya, she noticed that she did bear a striking resemblance to her mother, the only physical difference being that Malanya had a slightly lighter coat and a white snout. Yet Zoelda had to admit she didn't trust the younger horse as much, though she couldn't fathom why.

Alarink tilted his head to the side as he exited the pen, a look of interest on his face. "Does that make you trust her more?"

"I-I don't know…"

"Hmph," he exhaled, gesturing for her to leave the stable as he followed behind her, patting Epona as he passed. "Considering you ask so many questions, you don't seem to like answering them very much, do you, dear?"

"Please stop calling me 'dear'," Zoelda said as they made their way to the ranch gate, the sun now lowering to the horizon. "And don't call me 'darling' either." She half snapped when she caught the twinkle of mischief in Alarink's eye as he opened the gate for them.

"You'll have to answer my questions sooner or later, Zoelda." Said he as they started back down the hill into the village. "Oh, are you hungry? I've got some food back at the treehouse if you'd like some."

"I'm starving, thank you."

"Ahah!" Alarink smiled triumphantly, causing Zoelda to glare out at the village as they entered it again.

"Oh, for God's sake…" She mumbled at him as the jeering started once again. It was odd how she had come to expect it this time, barely batting an eye as the locals shouted at the two of them again as they passed.

"'God's' sake, huh?" Alarink mused, rubbing his chin, evidently not listening to the villagers anymore that Zoelda was. "Where do you come from to say something like that? Here in Hyrule we believe in the Goddesses, I've never heard anyone say anything other than 'by the Goddesses' when taking names in vain… Actually, I've heard the occasional lover exclaim 'Holy Nayru', or 'oh Farore' during other circumstances…"

"That's far too much information."

"Nevertheless, I've never heard anyone swear to one 'God', male or female. Where do you come from to exclaim something like that?"

"It's… A long story…" Said she defensively, not wanting to get into it. They were approaching the treehouse now, the occasional firefly flitting around as the sun continued its descent.

"Well, I've told you some personal stories, I think it's only fair if you tell me a bit about yourself." Alarink replied as he unlocked the door to his house, striking a match to light the candle by the door as Zoelda closed it behind her.

As she entered, she was reminded of what he said about the interior being different from when his father lived there. There were clearly defined floors now, the upper floor being accessible by a ladder. The lower floor was evidently for living purposes: a desk, bookshelf, stove and several cabinets lined the circumference of the room, the back of which had a small trapdoor leading down to what she suspected to be a storage room and/or bathroom. There was a black rug with a blue trim in a similar style to the banner outside in the centre of the floor, with a table for two set up on top of it. Judging by it being covered in books and pieces of parchment, Zoelda suspected that he didn't entertain company much. At least not much for dinner.

Finishing lighting candles, Alarink went down the trapdoor at the back of the room, telling her to stay put. He came back several moments later to find Zoelda standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, not knowing what she should be doing with herself. Smiling pityingly, he gave her the pile of clothes he was carrying. "Here, you're going to need to change before our meeting with the Princess tomorrow. Your… Interesting fashion sense might not have been picked up on in Ordon thanks to the cloak, but the Princess will certainly find it odd if you enter her throne room wearing a concealing cloak."

"Thank you." Said Zoelda as she took the clothes, now hovering in the middle of the room holding a pile of clothes not knowing what to do with herself, feeling embarrassed as Alarink stood watching her before sighing and giving her guidance.

"Put them in this bag-" he gave her a simple black canvas bag to put the pile of clothes in "-then go up the ladder and change. I'll start on some dinner for the two of us and when you come back down, I want to know where you came from and how you know so much about the Twilight era, it might be important to know for tomorrow. Is that okay?"

Knowing it was only fair to tell him a bit about herself, she nodded and started up the ladder with the bag of clothes on her back. The upper level was vastly different from what she remembered: there was a wardrobe on one wall and a large double bed dominated the room, it's sheets neatly made yet Zoelda could still imagine what goes on in it from night to night, knowing it's owner. On the south-facing wall, a door was set that likely opened out to the balcony. Much like the lower level, there was a black and blue rug on the centre of the floor. With the rest of the house feeling very natural - in both colour scheme and the wood used for the furniture - the rugs stood out as unfitting to the environment, much like the similar banner outside did to the exterior.

Regardless of the setting, Zoelda would have felt uncomfortable changing with Alarink just down a ladder anywhere, not that she was afraid he'd look or walk in on her, just that she was uncomfortable changing with a relative stranger nearby in a room she had never been in before. Nevertheless, she knew she should change out of her Triforce top at least, and settled for a simple unbleached, sleeveless wool tunic from the pile of clothes she had been given. It fit a little snug, but was otherwise suitable and made her leggings stand out a little less as it reached mid-thigh - a fact that made her suspect that this had once been a simple dress for Ilia. Knowing her Doc Martins would stand out for their vibrant colour, Zoelda reluctantly changed into a simple pair of ankle boots provided, glad that they were well-worn and a little on the big side. Stuffing her own clothes and boots back in the bag, she looped it over her shoulder again as she started down the ladder to eat.

Zoelda hadn't been changing for longer than perhaps ten minutes, yet the table was mostly set. A glass of water stood next to the bowls at the chairs, the table itself covered in fruits - apples and berries primarily - and a warm loaf of bread sat in the centre of the table. Alarink turned from his place at the stove to look her up and down, he gave a nod of approval as she sat herself at the table.

"Much better, you look like less of an outsider now," he said, turning back to the pot on the stove that Zoelda suspected to contain some kind of fish stew based on the smell. His tone was serious when he spoke to her next, "Now, would you mind telling me a little about where you come from and how you know so much about the Twilight Era, Zelda?"

Trying desperately not to ask why it was okay to call her by her actual name right now and not normally, Zoelda sighed and looked down at the table, knowing it would be easier to tell him her crazy story without looking at him. "Um, this will probably come off as insane, but it's the truth as far as I can tell…"

She told him about how the tales of Hyrule's past were recounted in videogame format in her world, that they were called 'Legends of Zelda', a fact that made him snort in amusement. Then, she went on to tell him how her mother and 'aunt' Impax had both died ten years ago in a car accident. Though she couldn't see his face, she did notice the tension in his shoulders as she told him about Impax, her mother's best friend with pure white hair and odd red eyes - Zoelda had thought she was an albino for years before she learnt that Impax's tan was natural, not fake.

"They died at around the same time as the Pestilence in Hyrule…" Alarink muttered as he brought the stew over to the table, gesturing to her to take what she wanted. After helping herself to some stew and bread, Alarink started to question her again. "What was your mother like, if you don't mind me asking?"

"No, it's fine, she was…" Zoelda chased some stew with a hunk of bread as she thought, trying not to cry as she thought about her mother and what Alarink would want to know about her. "She was a lot like me in appearance; a little shorter and her hair and eye colour were also a little lighter, but otherwise… But she was far stronger than me, physically and emotionally. Mum didn't question everything, she _knew_ everything, a lot more than she ever told me, I'd imagine… She told me every first-born woman on her side of the family was called Zelda when I asked her why we shared a name."

"Can I see your ears?" Alarink said suddenly. The whole while that Zoelda had been speaking, he'd been listening intently, staring at her over his food.

"I'm sorry?"

"Ah," he half chuckled as he realised what an odd request it was. "That must've sounded very weird. It's not some weird fetish, if that's what you're thinking. I'm just curious if they're Hylian or Human."

 _Well now that you've said you haven't, I'm worried that you've got some bizarre ear fetish,_ Zoelda thought as she pushed her thick hair behind her ears, noticing that they were more pointed than she remembered them being back home and poking at them a little. Being born with an odd birthmark on her hand and pointier than normal ears, she had been subject to a lot of name calling in the early years of her life (though it was nothing compared to the name calling that Alarink seemed to suffer daily), it made her slightly uncomfortable to realise that her ears were even pointier now, that she might be an entirely different species than she always thought she was.

"Hylian." Alarink said simply as he looked at them, playing with one of his hoop earrings as he thought. "Interesting… Would you mind telling me how you ended up here, in Hyrule?"

"I… I don't know how to explain it…" Muttered she as she let her hair fall back in front of her ears, wondering how she never put together that she was a Hylian before - sure, she was tall, not blonde and her eyes were a deep ink blue rather than pale blue, but Alarink was tall, brunet and had more green than blue eyes. Perhaps stereotyping Hylians in her mind had lead her not to realise all the times that her mother had hinted at her being something different, something from an entirely different world. Zoelda's voice broke as she told him about her mother's voice calling her through her TV, her hand beckoning her into Hyrule field.

For how weird this must have seemed to him, Alarink took everything he heard as the unerring truth, like it was exactly what he had expected to hear.

"So, can I just clarify?" Said he, as he started to clear the table of their empty bowls, glasses and uneaten food. "Your mother introduced you to the ' _Legends_ ' of Hyrule, never told you that you're a Hylian and likely from this world originally, died at around the same time as the Pestilence along with her best friend? And then called you into this world through some sort of portal this morning to finally introduce you to this world, the world you never thought existed in reality?"

"Y-yes…" Zoelda hiccupped a little as she realised how weird it sounded, as she came to terms with the fact that her mother had lied to her a good portion of her life. Had she lied to her father too? Had her father lied to Zoelda herself? "Oh, Gods…" Her head fell into her hands on the table as she wondered if she would ever see her father again or if she'd be stuck in this world forever.

"Zelda," Alarink came over to where she was sitting and put his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "It's going to be okay, this happened for a good reason. Your mother had to keep this world hidden from you for a reason."

"And what are these reasons then, Link?" She snapped at him, whipping her clear-eyed face up to glare at him, he jumped back a little in surprise. "Why can you call me by my name privately and in front of Colin, yet I must change it for everyone else? Why must you change your name for everyone else too? Why am I here, what is my purpose for being here? Why did mother never tell me, what good _reason_ could she have had to keep this from me? How will I get back home? Is time passing there, will people notice I'm missing?"

"It's… complicated. I don't know how to explain it myself."

"What a fucking surprise."

"Language," Alarink smiled. "Look, I can't begin to explain this, but I can promise that you will get home after it's all over, if you want. And I would imagine time isn't passing there while you do your duty here, or people won't notice your gone at least."

"My duty, huh?" Zoelda sat up again, looking him dead in the eye as he smiled charmingly at her, like he always did. "And what's that?"

"I have no idea." He got up and brushed himself off, walking over to the door and grabbing a cloak. "But it's going to be important and tiring, so I suggest you get some sleep so you're not tired when you meet the Princess tomorrow."

"And where are you going?" Asked she as he put the cloak on.

"I much prefer my bed to be warmed by a companion," he smiled his charming, flirty smile once again. "Unless your suggesting you'll share with me…?"

"Go find someone else, Link." Zoelda said bluntly as she rose from her chair, mildly disgusted that he could switch so quickly between flirty and serious. "Goodnight."

"'Night, Zoelda." He winked as he left his house, leaving Zoelda to blow out the candles before going up the ladder to sleep in his bed.

* * *

It took a long time for Zoelda to get to sleep that first night.

First, she couldn't figure out what to wear - she eventually settled for her Triforce shirt and a pair of shorts from the collection of clothes she'd been given. Then, she decided that she couldn't sleep _in_ Alarink's bed, suspecting all the things he did in it and wondering how easily she could catch some sort of Hyrulian STD from sleeping in it. It was childish, she knew, but she ended up bundling herself up in a cloak for a blanket and using a tunic for a pillow as she slept at the foot of the bed on the rug. _Then,_ she couldn't sleep because she was thinking about everyone she'd left behind in her world and where Alarink was in this one.

Though she found it hard to admit, she had come to rely on the flirty stranger and his constant smile in afternoon she'd been in this world. She wouldn't have wanted to share a bed with him, but it would have put her more at ease to know he was at least still in the house with her if anything went wrong.

Finally, she fell asleep at what she suspected to be a while after midnight, clutching onto the necklace her father had given her for her 16th birthday. On a thin chain that reached to sit just above her heart, Zoelda never felt the need to tell people about it as they rarely saw it. Her dad had told her it was an old family heirloom on her mother's side, past to each Zelda on their 16th birthday for as long as their family tree could be traced.

It was a tiny harp, about the length and height of her thumb, similar in style to the Goddess' harp from the era of the Sky. Her mother had pushed her to learn how to play the harp and lyre from a young age; she had never been very good at it, but she was good enough to play a few simple melodies, a few Hylian melodies.

As she laid clutching it until her hand hurt, she thought about everything her mother hadn't told her. She wondered, if perhaps, this harp was more than an heirloom, if their family was actually descendants of Hylians. She wondered how that was possible, how had her ultimate Grandmother ended up in the world if she originally came from Hyrule?

Sleep claimed her before she could think of any coherent answer.

Although she didn't dream as such, she felt someone in her mind with her as she slept. Some presence watching over her…

Dawn came, and Zoelda found herself feeling invaded, more tired than the day before as the feeling of the watching presence stuck with her…

* * *

 _AN:_

 _This was written over the span of a week, if I remember rightly - mid June to early July maybe? I can't quite remember when._

 _And believe it or not, it's actually been cut down about 3000 words from the original draft - yeah, this was a 10000 word chapter to begin with. And while you might think it's rather long for a chapter, I'm afraid it's not the longest one in this story._

 _But that ones a while away yet, so let's ignore that for now._

 _Literally the entire purpose of this chapter was to get all the scene setting and stuff like that out of the way in a safe environment before the real story starts. It was literally only included to give us a little background on Zoelda and Alarink before they start their journey and background stories become less important._

 _And also to show off Alarink's nickname and the fact that he's a bit of a prick - the start to a two toned character if you will._

 _Anyway, literally only 10 people read the last chapter, so I doubt many of you are reading this now and if you are, good for you - you get to know a character I am more proud of than anything else I've ever accomplished and who is more interesting (at least to me) than may of the people I know IRL._

 _So, stick around for my next chapter (which will actually be published on next Saturday) when we'll see Zoelda reveal herself to be a bit of a badass on the journey to Hyrule Castle. It's like half the length of this one, so it's a more manageable amount of words._

 _Please do follow and review, I beg of you, I just want to know what you guys think, what you think I can improve on._

 _Anyway, have a good week and stuff, hope to see you ten next week for my next chapter, perhaps we'll have picked up more people for the journey by then! (I can dream at least!)_

 _~WWQ_


	4. 3 Hyrule Field

_This chapter contains swearing, violence and sexual references. Enjoy!_

* * *

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _3\. Hyrule Field_

As Zoelda woke, the first thing she noticed was the pain in her neck from sleeping on the floor. Sitting up, instinctively reaching for her phone while rubbing the back of her neck, she remembered the events of the day before and how they hadn't been a dream. She remembered her strange companion and how he had told her to use a different name, recalling how he had set her up for the night and then left.

"Alarink?" Zoelda called, wondering if he had returned yet as she turned to look over at the empty bed beside her. There was no reply. Wrapping the cloak around her, Zoelda shakily stood up and called again. "Alarink? Are you there?"

Still, there was no reply.

Shrugging, Zoelda stood up and changed into the same tunic and leggings she had worn yesterday evening, putting everything else away in the bag. Pulling the bag over her shoulder, Zoelda started down the ladder. "Link? Are you in here at all?"

Entering the main room of the treehouse, Zoelda was unsurprised to find it the same way she left it the night before, a little more light now spilling in through the ladder gap and the small windows. She was also unsurprised to find the house missing its owner. Really, not knowing him all that well, Zoelda couldn't even begin to guess where Alarink might have been: perhaps he was getting the horses, more likely he was still in whomever's bed he ended up in last night.

Zoelda decided it was best not to ruminate on where he was too much, despite the fact that she almost certainly couldn't manage this world without his assistance.

 _I can eat breakfast without your assistance though_ , Zoelda thought to herself, chuckling as she helped herself to one of the apples left over from last night. Normally, she would have eaten something similar for breakfast while perusing Facebook on her phone; she hardly knew what to do with herself in an unfamiliar setting with no one to talk to. So, she decided to snoop around for a bathroom as she waited for Alarink to return, holding an apple in her mouth as she went through the back trapdoor where he had got her clothes from the night before.

Through there she found a toilet and sink - and a door leading to a storage room where her new clothes must have come from - but a bath or shower of any kind was clearly missing. Doing more snooping as she waited, grabbing a handful of berries to eat this time, she found a rack of towels in a cupboard by the front door. Knowing she almost certainly shouldn't, but also knowing she hadn't showered back home the day before, Zoelda grabbed a towel and left the house for Ordon Spring (leaving a hastily written note on the table for Alarink in case he got back before she did).

Humming to herself as she walked, it wasn't until she actually got to the spring that Zoelda realised how easily she found her way there. Sure, it was a fairly linear walk, but this was a new world for her, surely she should have found this all more terrifying and less routine than her mind was making it out to be. Regardless, she took her boots and bag of clothes off, leaving them on the shore as she made her way over to the far end of the spring where a waterfall flowed into a hip-deep pool.

Feeling a little self-concious - as anyone would - Zoelda wrapped a thin and tattered cloak around her as she undressed, keeping it about her even as she bathed under the falling water, her harp necklace very cool against her chest.

As she bathed, a persistent presence was felt watching over her again, much like it had during her restless night of sleep. While the night's presence had been forceful and unpleasant, this was more gentle and even a little nurturing, as though a large yet friendly bear was wrapping her in its arms and keeping her safe.

Feeling mostly clean, Zoelda dressed and started away from the spring. As she let the gates shut behind her, she could have sworn she saw a flicker or spark of a fairy or spirit behind her. Dismissing it as a trick of the rising sun, Zoelda made her way back to the treehouse feeling cleansed and revitalised.

As she made her way through the trees, the notes of a familiar tune made their way to her, growing loader and loader as she neared the treehouse. Walking into the clearing, the first thing she saw were two horses, Malanya and a pitch-black stallion with a white stripe running from nose to tail, making it look like a large skunk. He was quite beautiful and seemed to know it, swishing his tail from side to side as he grazed.

The sight that her eyes focused on though, was stood on the balcony of the treehouse, directly above the odd banner over the lower door. He - like Zoelda - appeared to be damp from a recent wash, his hair sticking to his forehead and curling around his neck and ears where it had yet to be put up. The sun was hitting him directly, washing his skin pale and his hair an almost ginger as the shadow of leaves danced over him in the breeze. Zoelda was reminded of how attractive he was in that moment, not that she had really forgotten since she had been in his almost constant company since they met, but the things he said and the way he said them often made her forget he was very physically appealing.

Regardless, Alarink looked almost ethereal as he played "The Song of the Hero" on a hand-carved wooden flute. His eyes were closed, making the scene before Zoelda look far too private for her to be walking in on.

So, instead she stood back among the trees and removed her harp necklace from inside her tunic instinctively. The Song of the Hero - or the main theme of the Zelda series - was one of the first things her mother had taught her to play, and while the harp on her necklace was tiny, it still worked. Using her nails to pluck the strings, Zoelda joined in with Alarink's playing, closing her own eyes as she began to hum quietly first, then loudly and passionately.

She couldn't see Alarink look over at her as he heard her join in. She didn't see the smile he gave her, sweet and honest as he watched the light filter through the leaves and trace patterns on her dark hair - an almost dirty blonde where the sun bleached it - and pale skin. She never knew that he thought her more stunning than any of his conquests in that moment.

By the time Zoelda realised that Alarink had stopped playing, she saw him leaning over the balcony railing, his flute held in his fist, smiling a little sadly at her as she tucked her necklace back away. "That was beautiful, Zoelda."

"Thank you, you play well yourself." Said she in response, coming into the clearing with the horses. "When did you learn?"

"...Mother taught me, long ago." He said quietly in response, flicking his flute around his fingers as he turned and went into the house before Zoelda could ask the obvious follow up. When he came back out, he was carrying two dark travelling cloaks, giving one to Zoelda as he walked over to Malanya, using a tattered cloth to tie his hair back again. "I assume you're ready to set out for the Castle?"

"Oh, um, yes." She stuttered as she wrapped the cloak around her shoulders, noticing it too had a blue trim, like most of the black objects Alarink seemed to own. "Sorry I wasn't here when you got back."

"Ah, no worries, I wasn't here when you woke up!" Alarink smiled as he went over to the black horse, tightening his packs and stroking his mane. "I was sorting these guys out for our trip. He's yours by the way."

"You're… You're making me ride by myself?!" Zoelda was understandably shocked. "I've never ridden alone before…"

"Don't worry, we'll go for a little run across the field and you'll be fine. Rogue's a good horse."

"And with a name like that, why shouldn't I take you at your word?" She eyed Rogue suspiciously as he did the same to her.

"Trust me, Zoelda, he'll treat you fine." Alarink smirked as he reached into one of the saddlebags. With great purpose, he withdrew two short swords and a spare bow and quiver. Zoelda's eyes widened. "The monsters in Hyrule, however…"

"You want me to fight on horseback?!" Shocked once again, Zoelda noticed the mass of straps covering Alarink's torso for the first time that day, she'd forgotten that he'd been wearing them yesterday; it had felt like an age since then.

"I don't expect you to know how, but yes, the monsters are quick to attack travellers."

"I know how to fence and shoot." She said confidently as she took the straps for the swords, bow and quiver and attached them to herself expertly. After securing them, she then took the sword from Alarink's right hand, turning it in her hand with practised ease as he watched with smug disbelief.

Zoelda sighed angrily at his disbelief in her skills and kicked a leg out at him suddenly, catching him off guard enough to send him stumbling. Quickly, she followed his stumbling and slashed out with her sword, which he just barely managed to parry. As he struggled for footing, Zoelda slashed again, claiming a resounding clang of metal on metal as he parried again. This time, she kicked out at his shins, knocking him to his knees with her sword under his chin. He looked up at her with huge turquoise eyes showing much more surprise than disbelief.

"I can handle myself, I just don't know how to ride a horse." Said she, reaching down to help him up.

"When the fuck did you learn stuff like that?!" Alarink asked as he got to his feet, brushing himself down as he handed her the other sword, which she quickly sheathed.

"A long time ago. Impax knew martial arts and Mum knew how to fence, joust and shoot both bows and guns, they both taught me and Dad as we grew up."

"That's… Well, I'd say that's insane, but my father taught me how to fight when I was growing up too, I guess it's just odd to see a young woman so proficient." He helped her onto Rogue, who seemed a little apprehensive at having someone new on his back.

"I thought you said your society was progressive, what's with the sexism?" Zoelda asked as she settled herself in the saddle, grabbing the reins instinctively.

"I'm just digging myself a hole, aren't I?" Alarink muttered to himself as he got on Malanya. "I suppose I'm simply a little surprised to see you so well off since you come from another world. I know several very proficient female fighters, such as the Princess or my mother, so I certainly don't think women can't handle themselves."

"Oh, who is your mother?"

"Not the time, Zoelda." Alarink smiled sternly as he grabbed the reins of her stallion. "Now, let's teach you how to handle Rogue…"

* * *

Slowly, their horses walked along the path through Ordona's and Faron's woods, giving Zoelda plenty of time to get used to Rogue and vise versa. Unlike Malanya, who seemed impatient to start running, Rogue was more cautious, likely due to having a wary stranger on his back. It was odd for Zoelda to see this level of caution in a stallion, especially since she had always heard they were the most excitable of horses, but she appreciated it, it even made her trust Rogue a little more.

Alarink, giving her advice on how to soothe Rogue and how she should be sitting in her saddle and encouraging the horse, occasionally commented on their surroundings, telling her how they had changed over the score of years since she would have last seen them. It was still all so odd for Zoelda to be riding through places that she had once explored with her mother, and more recently with her father. The comments Alarink made reminded her of the comments her mother had made, the fact that she may have once come from this Kingdom becoming more and more likely as Zoelda thought about it.

Eventually, the trees broke into field and the pair walked onto the paved road crossing Hyrule Field. Alarink motioned for Zoelda to rein in Rogue, which she did relatively easily, stroking the horse's mane reassuringly.

"Do you see that bastard over there?"

Squinting, she looked out to where Alarink was pointing in the low sky. Just as she was about to say she didn't see anything, a flicker of wing entered her field of vision and soon she could see the whole Kargarok circling low in the distance. "The big bird thing?"

"That's the one," Alarink sat back smugly in his saddle, folding his arms over his chest as he watched the bird-monster. "That fucker is likely a friend of the one who tried to get you yesterday. I want you to kill it."

"From here?" Zoelda asked incredulously as she took the bow off the straps on her back, fingering the string as she gauged its range. "There's no way I can get it from here!"

"Then gallop a little closer," replied he simply. "I already know your sword skills are impressive, I want to see how well you shoot."

"Okay…" she muttered a little uncomfortably as she readied an arrow. Tapping her feet on Rogue's flanks as Alarink had taught her for changing his gait, she encouraged him to a trot, then a full out gallop as they neared the Kargarok. "Come on, Rogue…"

At the last possible second, the Kargarok saw them and readied itself to dive. With her bow already drawn, Zoelda instinctively lifted herself up in the stirrups and shot. With a twang, the arrow flew true and struck the monster in the middle of its forehead, causing it to convulse and spasm as it fell suddenly to the floor. Breathing slightly heavily, the brunette reined in Rogue and stroked the side of his face as she stared at the monster she killed.

Snorting, Rogue seemed almost as impressed as she did that she'd managed that.

There was a clatter of hooves from behind them on the path as Alarink galloped over to join them, that ever-present grin on his face. He jumped down from his horse as he neared her and got a closer look at the bird monster, taking the arrow from its forehead slowly, causing a trickle of blood to start running down its face. "Impressive. Now, this is normally when I tell the monster who's boss using a series of swears. So, repeat after me: 'take that you motherfu'-"

"Alarink, watch out!" Shouted Zoelda over his raging profanities as a Bokoblin came running over to the two of them, it's sword waving as it shouted angry nonsense.

Looking over his shoulder at the nearing monster, Alarink messily tried to grab his short sword from under his tunic.

"Oh, shit-!" He exclaimed just as the creature jumped at him, it's sword raised high above its head.

It never got the opportunity to strike Alarink as Zoelda shot an arrow at its chest, knocking it back with force. Alarink, having finally removed his sword from its sheath, ran over to it and - rather elegantly, she thought - sliced the Bokoblin's throat. Running a hand through his hair, he turned back to Zoelda and re-sheathed his sword, a messy grin on his face making him seem awfully young. "Very impressive indeed, darling. That bugger never saw that coming. Now, if you please, repeat after me: 'You little motherfuckers think you can'-"

"Alarink, get back on your horse." Zoelda snapped at him, putting her bow on her back. "We've got a royal appointment to keep and no time to be swearing at dead monsters."

"Hmph, when did you get so bossy, dear?" He asked as he got back on Malanya, who looked like she was ready to do a bit of fighting herself.

"When you started calling me 'dear' and 'darling' again?"

"Ah, yes, you asked not be called that, didn't you?" Alarink rubbed his chin as he remembered, moving Malanya to trot alongside Rogue as they crossed a small bridge. "Fair enough, but I suggest we stop under that tree to eat lunch before we continue. We don't want to be going into town on an empty stomach."

"Alright, but is it safe there?"

"I've fallen asleep under there before and nothing killed me, so I'd say so." He turned Malanya off the path towards the tree with Zoelda and Rogue following behind him. Alarink dismounted first with Zoelda struggling a little as he stood going through the saddlebags for food. Quite suddenly, she fell out of her saddle and landed a little roughly on her feet in a crouch with a slight squawk. With a small pile of food in one hand, Alarink looked around Malanya at Zoelda on the floor and gave her a sad smile. "Perhaps I should have taught you how to dismount."

"Perhaps." She half snapped in reply as she got up, dusting herself off and pushing her hair back as she walked over to the shade under the tree. "Speaking of sleeping, where did you end up last night?"

"Aw, didja miss me?" He joked as he brought a loaf of bread, a box of berries and a flask of water over. The horses had been given two apples each, which were already gone as they began to wonder around to graze on the grass.

"Not so much as I missed having someone who knew what they were doing and where they are." Zoelda responded a little snappily again as she helped herself to a hunk of bread that Alarink had cut with a rather blunt dagger.

"You're awfully waspish today, Zoelda, rough night?" There was a look of concern on his face as he finally caught her eye over their food.

"Something like that," muttered she a she thought about that presence in her sleep again. "Sorry I'm snappy…"

"I don't mind. I'd rather you be snappy at me than the Princess." He grinned as he held a cherry to his lips in thought. "Though, knowing her, it'd end up being a snap-off…" He chuckled a little as Zoelda watched in silence. "Ah, well. To answer your earlier question, I ended up with Ursila again in Ordon Village. I much prefer spending my nights warm in the embrace of a lover, even if they don't want to be seen with me in the morning…"

Zoelda decided not to push that line of questioning further.

Truthfully, she had no problem with Alarink's philandering way of life, she just had no desire to hear about it. Some of her friends back home would think her a bit of a prude for the way she viewed others sexual relations, but coming from a father who hadn't even really dated since her mother died, she had never had much exposure to relationships growing up. With a slight shudder, she decided it was best not to think about her friends and family back home.

"Cold?" Alarink asked when he noticed her shudder.

"Ah, no. Just thinking," Zoelda responded, grabbing a berry from the box and looking out at the scene before her. She guessed she was looking towards Kakariko, though she couldn't say for sure since all she saw were monsters, grass and hills. Hyrule Field was a lot less exciting in reality.

"What about?"

"Um, just about how much longer it'll take us to get to the Castle." She lied.

"Hum," hummed Alarink as he thought, spinning another cherry around by its stalk. "At a full gallop, it'll take less than half an hour to get to Town. But navigating Castle Town can take an hour on its own, then there's getting into the Throne room and convincing Zelda… I'd say we'll be done before dinner at the latest."

"Has Castle Town changed much these last two decades?" Zoelda asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know much of what it was like before, but it's large and convoluted now. Almost everyone lives there, so it's very busy. Not somewhere I like to frequent much, I prefer the quiet countryside myself."

"I agree." Nodded she in response, thinking about her and her father's little cottage in an industrialising town back home. They would sell up and move somewhere even more rural, but they loved her mother too much to move from her home.

"Well, might as well get started again," Alarink said suddenly, getting up and dusting himself off before grabbing the leftover food. "If we don't get to the Castle today, it'll take forever to get another meeting."

"What, does the Princess hate you or something?" Zoelda got up, brushing herself down as she wondered over to where Rogue was now watching a few small birds hop around. He was certainly a one-of-a-kind stallion. As she stroked his mane, Zoelda happened to glance in front of her and gasped. For the first time since arriving in Hyrule, she was taken aback by looking at something seemingly new.

Before her, in the not too far distance, stood Hyrule Castle.

It was resplendent, a clear white with bright blue turrets reaching for the sky. There were stained glass windows visible from even a distance showing the Triforce and other, harder to see scenes from the kingdom's history. The walls around it were just higher than the tree line, and guards could be seen posted at key points.

For someone who had only ever seen fantasy castles in books, games or films, the only actual castle Zoelda could compare this to was the Queen's back home. They were in no way alike, Hyrule's was far more fantastical, mythical and mediaeval in appearance.

It was quite the sight in tangible glory.

"Truly a sight to behold, isn't it?" Behind her, Alarink was mounted on Malanya, a small reminiscing smile on his face. "I remember being taken aback when I first saw it. I can promise you it's even more impressive up close. … The inside is a little hallow though, much like many of the people who live in the town surrounding it. People who surround themselves with inherited riches who have no idea how hard one has to work to earn something like that."

Zoelda looked up at him suddenly, surprised by his sudden change in tone. "I could have ended up like that… Living off father's name and inheritance. Living off of mother's-Living a shallow life of no hardships…"

"Link?" She said his name tentatively, like reaching out a comforting hand, as she mounted Rogue again.

"Disgusting, the lot of them." He announced suddenly, a quick angry scowl on his face. It was gone by the time Zoelda had registered it, replaced by that smile of his once again. "Anyway, shall we be off? Can't keep royalty waiting!"

Quickly, he forced Malanya into a gallop, leaving Zoelda to look momentarily shocked before spurring Rogue on to follow.

* * *

 _AN:_

 _So, this was originally two separate chapters before I realised that it would make more sense to make them one since they were both very short. I believe this was mid Julyish written, honestly might have been into August, I know it took me far longer to write than necessary - this was back when I wouldn't write more than 2000 words a day and this chapter is just shy of 4000 in and of itself anyway._

 _Looking back on it, it's clumsy and awkward, not entirely sure what it's meant to be doing but providing information that the story needs so it can't really be cut. I swear that the rest of the chapters pick up in quality and have a more set purpose than this one, so please bear with me._

 _In the next chapter, about the same length as this one, we meet 'Link' and the Princess. But more importantly, we see Alarink's character change and hear his most popular nickname. Trust me when I say the next chapter is better: it was more fun to write, it's got new characters and even some important character development._

 _So let's just call this chapter a filler, an example of how not to write a chapter. Don't flesh things out for the hell of it, it clearly doesn't work and it just ends up a convoluted mess that isn't easy to fix and unfortunately contains necessary information._

 _Anyway, back to the weekly Saturday updates that *shouldn't* change, but there may be other times when I update on a Friday for whatever reason or on a Sunday if really necessary, but they shouldn't happen any time soon._

 _So, once again, please follow, rate, review, whatever; just please let me know what you think. We're still on ten people per chapter, so hey, you ten people, thanks! I hope you stick with me into the next chapter, and you know, it would be nice if you could tell me what you think... Review box is right there, you can use it even as a guest... Or, you know, Twitter... WritesWithQuill guys, check me out if you want, I post a lot of crap..._

 _Anyway, have a good weekend._

 _~WWQ_


	5. 4 Castle Town

_Contains sexual insinuations, references, what have you. No swearing or major violence this time, so it's gone sexual instead._

* * *

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _4\. Castle Town_

The two reined in their mounts as they approached the bridge into Hyrule town. They'd galloped pretty much solidly across the rest of the field, utterly silent as they did. Pulling up to the bridge and gate into town, Zoelda was feeling more than a little saddle-worn, sweat was dripping on her brow by the intensity of her first prolonged gallop.

Her tiredness was completely forgotten as she looked up at the entrance into the main town of Hyrule.

Foreboding and incredibly tall, Zoelda felt a little dwarfed in comparison to the gates, and that was while she was sat tall on Rogue. Like many things, she'd seen so far, the wall around the town had also barely changed, still made of cut stone looking sturdy enough to block a horde of raging Gorons.

Beside her, she noticed Alarink had dismounted and walked Malanya over to a picket her, making sure she had plenty of water and straw. Hastily, Zoelda started doing the same, dismounting from Rogue much more elegantly this time and walking him over to stand with Malanya. Without even a glance over at her, Alarink prepared food and water for her horse as well as his, making her suspect that he was likely the village stable boy back in Ordon. It came as a bit of a surprise for her to realise that she hadn't asked him what he did for a living yet.

"You'll want to remove your cloak and weapons," he said as he began to undo the straps on his chest having already removed his heavy cloak. "The guards won't take favourably to having us walk around armed in town."

"Right," she mumbled as she removed her own cloak and weapons, storing them in Rogue's bags as instructed.

"Alright, listen up, there's going to be a few things I'll need you to do here and they are non-negotiable," Alarink said suddenly, looking her full in the eye with a stern expression. It was all she could do to nod, letting him know to continue, staring a little scared at his sudden change of expression. "First thing first, absolutely no talking. There are going to be even more names shouted at me in town than there are in Ordon and it'll work to both of our advantages if you don't question me on them and don't try and make conversation with anyone."

"Okay…" Zoelda said in response, thinking it sounded a little strict but assuming he had a good reason.

"Second, let me speak when we get to the castle. I'm imagining you don't have any experience with royalty and it'll make things much smoother if you just follow my lead." Once again, Zoelda nodded in response. "Finally, as we walk around town, smile like a mad woman. When we get to the palace, return to your resting bitch face."

"I _do not_ have a resting bitch face." She was shocked that he would even suggest such a thing as she glared at him.

"Sure you don't, Zo," he mussed her hair with a smile, despite her protests. "And don't change that, it'll help with your appearance of being last night's lover."

"I'm sorry," said she as he took her arm in his and guided her across the bridge. "I'm appearing as _what_ now?"

"Last night's lover," Alarink said simply through a large grin. "Now, hush up, and smile like you've had the best night of your life." He sighed briefly as he pushed the gate open. "By the Goddess, I _hate_ Hyrule town…"

A little scared at how particular Alarink was being in his descriptions of how they needed to act - and by the saddened way with which he said the last statement - Zoelda smiled a little stupidly as they entered the town, preparing herself for a repeat of Ordon village, just with more people. That ended up being under preparation, though she doubted she'd ever have been able to prepare herself for the events in Hyrule Town.

It started slowly.

First, the guards in the town called him "bastard lover" and her "foolish slut". It took all of her strength not to glare at that as the town opened out before them.

Its initial architecture reminded her of a maze-like town leading to a castle, everyone living in the maze walls so they could protect themselves if and when war came. The shops were all little market stalls that stopped their calling for customers as the pair past. There were a few "philandering hero's son" and "bastard hero" calls shouted as they passed by Goron merchants and Hylian towns people. Zoelda thought she might have even seen a Gerudo or two as they parted the crowd of shoppers like Moses did the Red sea, though these waves were filled with gossiping Hyrulians who didn't know the meaning of the term 'whispering'.

The name calling reached a crescendo as they had made their way to the central fountain plaza.

People stopped their coffee dates as they called out profanities and horrid names to the two of them. In the plaza, the crowd didn't part, it flocked to them like sheep, getting in their faces to call Alarink "bastard hero" or "immature child". Some of them even tried to push him, grabbing at his tunic and herding them towards the fountain. It was at this point that she realised just how much taller her and Alarink were compared to almost everyone else in Hyrule.

The whole time, Alarink kept a grin on his face, only his white knuckles gripping Zoelda's forearm to keep her close showed any sign that the names were affecting him. She, on the other hand, had lost her smile shortly after they parted the market crowd, mildly horrified at how easily he was letting the names wash over him. By the time they were skirting the edge of the fountain, desperately avoiding being thrown in, she had settled for a sad smile and shocked eyes, doing her best not to let the situation get to her any more than that.

As they skirted the fountain, a few Zoras accompanied them from within the fountain itself. Two female Zoras seemed to be fighting for Alarink's attention, lovingly trying to grab his free left arm. A third male Zora was with them, looking awestruck at him, his mouth slightly agape as he trailed behind his female friends looking for words to say yet finding none.

It was about then that Zoelda remembered Alarink having his tunic torn.

One of the more violent accusers had grabbed at him, attempting to push him over, or maybe pull him head over heels backwards. Either way, the accuser managed to tear a large gap in the back of his tunic. When Zoelda looked at it later, she realised that they had actually only retorn open a tear from before that he had likely sewn up after a former excursion in Hyrule town.

At this, Alarink turned quite suddenly, the accuser behind him looking both shocked and challenging, as if to say _"yeah, I didn't really mean to do that, but what are you going to do about it, bastard child?"_ Alarink's smile faltered and his eyes glared for all of a second before he readjusted himself, turning instead to smile a winning smile and drop a wink at the male Zora in the fountain. It was enough to make the trio of Zoras flustered, squealing like school girls while the rest of the crowd backed off a little, clearly having taken note of his glare.

Zoelda was grateful for his hand on her arm as he all but pulled them the rest of the way through the crowd to the Castle, she didn't like the idea of getting stuck in that crowd alone.

When they started to near the stairs up to the Castle, the crowd fell away. Now they whispered their name calling, muttering in hushed tones what the two of them might be going into the Castle to do. It was at this time that Zoelda first clearly heard the name she thought had been whispered under all the others ever since they'd arrived in Hyrule Castle Town.

"Bastard Prince."

It took every fibre of her being not to ask about that then, knowing full well it would be pointless and he wouldn't bother to answer.

As the guards let them pass through the gates into the corridor that lead to the Castle gardens - not without calling him a few names first, one of which was 'Bastard Prince' - Alarink let go of her arm and turned to her, his eyes a little pained as he asked, "How bad is the tear?"

Turning to look at his back, she saw how it had ripped all the way up from his hips to shoulder-blades very cleanly on a seam. She turned back to him and smiled, though it didn't disguise the worry clouding her eyes. "It's fixable."

"Zoelda…" His lips quivered a bit, and for all of a moment, she thought he might cry. In her mind's eye, she could see how he had gone through that kind of ridicule every time he had gone into Town since he seemingly appeared out of nowhere to inherit his father's house eight years ago. She saw him as a child, barely over ten, going into Town for the first time and having the folk simply view him from afar, muttering unpleasantries under their breath; then she saw him coming back from the Castle dejected and afraid going through the same thing, but on a much louder scale. She could picture it only getting worse with each appearance in Town until he was the entire Kingdom's whipping boy.

For the first time since she had met him, this charming and confident flirt, her heart went out to him in a wave of empathy.

Alarink was smiling again as he smoothed her hair back down - linking her arm though his once again as they walked down the hall to the gardens - though it was a sad smile. "I'm used to it by now, I'm simply sorry you had to see that at some of its worse."

Zoelda was about to respond when he pushed the doors open and she saw the Castle courtyard. A large fountain dominated the scene, a tall pole with the Triforce atop stood in its centre. All the stained-glass windows she had seen from outside the walls of town were now easier to read and they did in fact show key moments in history: from the Sky era all the way to the more recent Twilight era. Guards were training to their left, but they momentarily paused to see the two walk through the courtyard up to the Castle doors.

"Remember what I said about your resting bitch face?" Alarink asked as the door-guards let them through with only a slight smirk in their direction.

"How can I possibly forget?" Zoelda replied, starting at a normal volume until she heard it echo in the empty front room. It turned out that he had been right about the insides being grand yet hallow, everywhere was draped in royal, expensive furnishings, yet the only people they saw were maids, butlers and the occasional guard or courtier. She wasn't even surprised when the maids turned their noses up at Alarink.

"This way." He guided her up the main stairs after waiting a moment to see if they would be escorted. They navigated the Castle in silence, which is to say that her companion lead the way through the Castle expertly as though he had been walking royal halls for all of his life, never even pausing to wonder if it was the left or right door as they made their way to the heart of the Castle.

" _Bastard Prince."_

The name rang in Zoelda's mind as they passed halls of armour that she recalled spontaneously turning into Darknuts when she last explored it in pixels.

Perhaps Twilight Link had slept with Queen Zelda back in the day. It would explain how Alarink knew the way around the Castle so well. Though, if he was royalty, shouldn't everyone treat him better, even with his… _Interesting_ life choices?

Finally, they approached the Throne room, the huge double doors of which were closed and closely guarded. With only a few rude prods at Alarink that everyone seemed inclined to make, they opened the doors that allowed the duo to pass. As the doors closed behind them, Alarink's polite smile fled and his arm was removed from hers, causing her to look over at him and see a slightly spiteful man, his charming smile almost hiding the unbidden hate in his eyes.

It was a look almost more terrifying than the comments she'd heard through town. A look that made her wonder for the first time if where he had tightly held her arm would bruise.

Regardless of the look on his face, Zoelda could hardly turn back now as they made their way up to the Throne room.

Despite all her efforts, Zoelda could remember nothing about the Twilight era's Throne room, aside from the image of Ganondorf sitting menacingly on the throne and Zant walking in and demanding the surrender of the Princess. So, she couldn't say if it had changed, but she suspected it hadn't much. It was a large squarish room with a high ceiling and tall windows spread evenly around the perimeter. There were a few benches set near the windows too, with two large desks set on either side of the throne which dominated the back wall of the room, flanked either side with stained glass.

On one of those window benches sat a blonde young man, likely not much older than Zoelda herself. At a glance, she could tell that he was trying a little too hard to look like the Hero from Legend, his guard gear dyed a deep green and hair cut in a similar style to all the Links of the past. His pale blue eyes were glaring a little as he looked at the two of them walking into the room.

On the huge throne sat the Princess herself.

She was incredibly regal looking in a floor-length purple gown, embroidered here and there with the likeness of the Triforce, its long sleeves almost covering her gloved hands entirely. A tiara like circlet rested on her forehead, forcing her pale blonde hair back quite severely from her face and letting it fall straight down her back.

The Princess Zelda before her looked like almost any other, aside from the hatred that marred her features when she looked at Alarink. It was a look that was reciprocated somewhat sarcastically on Alarink's part as they left the hallway into the room and finally entered.

"Zeldy, Darling!" He all but shouted as he walked in, his arms spread wide open as though he was expecting a hug. The looks of both the Princess and suspected Link suggested neither one was in the hugging mood. "Oh wait, do I need to be calling you Queen Zeldy yet, or is that still a few months away?"

"It's still a few months away," the Princess said coolly and regally, her chin slightly lifted as though to show her superiority. In that moment, the Princess contradicted all views that Zoelda had of the royal family of Hyrule from her video games. "What are you-"

"And Alarink, nice to see you too, my man!" Alarink all but ignored the Princess as he walked over to where the man dressed as Link was sat at the window. He clapped his shoulder and laughed. "Oh, whoops, forgot you're going by my name aren't you, Mr. Hero 'Link'! Gained your Triforce yet?"

"Alarink, what are you-" The Princess tried to start again, raising herself in her seat a little.

"Ah, man. I tell you what, Linky, you've got it good here," Alarink continued, massaging Link's shoulders as he talked. Link was squirming, obviously trying to get out of his grip, but Zoelda could see Alarink's white knuckles even from where she was standing awkwardly at the entrance of the room and knew all of the blonde man's attempts would be futile. "If they had any idea that you had no right to the name of the hero, they'd rip you to pieces out there! By the Goddesses, I'm Link's son and that doesn't stop them ripping a hole in my tunic!"

"Alarink-"

Once again, he wasn't listening to the Princess as he leaned his head over Link's shoulder in a move that Zoelda found heavily reminiscent of Ghirahim from Skyward Sword. Even Link's shocked face was the same. "What do you have to say about that, 'Link'?" He whispered menacingly, but loud enough that everyone could hear.

Link made no response as the princess tried to gain Alarink's attention once again, "Alarink, I command-"

"Not talking anymore? Didja finally take that vow of silence?" Alarink was smiling over Link's shoulder, gazing almost lovingly out into the room. "I remember the day I first came here, my, how you spoke and spoke!" He was cackling now, his hands still gripping Link's shoulders. "You taught me a few words that I didn't know back then, Linky. They're a part of my regular vocabulary now, though I shouldn't thank you alone for that. I've heard many people shout them in the throes of passion since then…"

Link was still making no noise or movement as Alarink turned to look at him, his eyes wild and smile insane. It was quite the sight for Zoelda to behold considering she'd been told earlier to be silent in the Throne room and follow his lead. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing there as she stood in the centre of the room, her hands crossed in front of her as she watched the scene play out, not knowing if she should make a move to stop it.

"Alarink, why are you-" The Princess was cut off yet again as she began to stand in front of her throne.

"I wonder if I could get you to exclaim in passion~" Alarink practically purred into Link's ear. His insinuations and placement of his lips on Link's ear were obviously all too much for the blonde who forcefully removed himself from Alarink's grip and turned a well concealed sword on him.

"Oh ho ho," chuckled Alarink, putting his hands in the air mockingly. "I thought we wouldn't get to the swordplay until much later." He winked and bent down a little to Link's height, keeping his hands in the air, making him much more nervous. "But if you insist, go ahead, have your way with me…"

"LINK!" The Princess shouted at them, her gaze hard and unwavering.

The boys both turned to face her, Alarink smiling a little lustily. "Yes, Dear?"

"You will both cease this at once," snapped she as she picked her way down the stairs to her throne, hiking her dress up so she wouldn't trip in her heels. "Link, put your sword away and Alarink… Just stop and tell me why you requested such an urgent audience."

"Will you accept the excuse of me coming to see 'Link' here?" Alarink ruffled Link's hair much to his annoyance as he put his sword away.

"Considering that you've brought another woman with you, I sincerely doubt that's why you requested such an important audience."

"Well, threeways are always on the menu…" Muttered he as he looked over at Zoelda who was now standing awkwardly some distance from them. "Zo, what are you doing all the way over there, come here!"

"If you're proposing threesomes, I think I'd rather stay here." Zoelda responded a little rigidly, not moving from her spot.

"Fine. It'll be me, 'Link' and the Princess."

"No." The Princess responded sharply, slapping away the hand that he moved to wrap around her. "And get your hands off Link."

"Goddesses Blood," Alarink mumbled as he put his hands behind his back. "Such prudes…"

"Now," the Princess began in a rather commanding voice. "What did you want to see me for, and be quick about it, I am once again at my wits end with you."

"When are you not at your wits end with me, Zeldy?" Alarink joked, still amused by everything, it seemed. "Well, I wanted you to meet this woman. Zelda, get over here."

"She's not allowed to be called Zelda." The Princess said automatically, sizing Zoelda up as she tentatively made her way over to them.

"Such a commanding rule you give, Princess," said Alarink a little disappointedly. "Well, either way, she's going by Zoelda to appease you, your Highness."

"...Please say that's not _all_ you wanted to tell me."

"Oh ho, no," he chuckled as he grabbed the girls' right hands, despite their protests. "This is much more interesting. Oh, and 'Link', do join in if you have a Triforce!"

Link glared as Alarink grinned.

"What are we-" The Princess started only to be cut off when a golden light surrounded the three of them.

It came seemingly out of nowhere, catching the girls off guard as a figure appeared in front of the three of them. Bathed in a golden light itself, it seemed to simply smile at them, its hair a mass of flames and eyes an unfathomable sea of white. Its presence in front of them seemed to echo the presence that Zoelda had felt in her sleep the night before and she was shocked when she saw it smile, a dark and haunting smile that had been in the back of her mind ever before and ever since.

Demise disappeared shortly after, leaving his smile to haunt them as the Princess gazed over at the mark on Zoelda's hand, her mouth agape. Zoelda happened to notice that the Princess had the other half of the leftmost triangle lit on her own dominant hand. Confused by the sudden appearance of Demise, Zoelda looked up at Alarink for guidance and was surprised once more.

Momentarily, he wore a saddened smile and watery eyes as though seeing Demise had confirmed what he had always suspected yet never wanted to know for certainty. He was grinning again by the time he spoke.

"I requested an audience with you, Princess, because I believe we have another timeline altering event in our hands."

* * *

 _AN:_

 _What's up nine people? Have a nice week? Awesome, glad to hear it! (Yes, these author's notes have turned slightly passive aggressive, oh well!)_

 _So, early August, late July, I think. I know it only took me one or two sittings. You know when you have a scene that's constantly on your mind and you just have to write? The Alarink/Link scene in this was the first of those in this story for me. The next one isn't until like Chapter 10 or 11 and then there's the entirety of 12 and, well, something happened in my life after 12 so everything after is slightly different in tone and style. But that's a long way off yet, we're only on 4 now, after all._

 _Anyway, Link and the Princess, our other two major characters. I didn't like them much when I first wrote them, the Princess' entire purpose was to continually piss off Alarink and vice versa while Link's just kinda there. I had more plans for Link, admittedly, but they just didn't fit by the time I came to write them (they were meant to be post 12 so, hey, things change) but, we do see more of both his and the Princess' story in the final 3ish chapters. So, if you're still with me then, you'll get to see Link's background._

 _Just so we're clear: Link, our blonde dude, was originally called Alarink before he exchanged names with Link - our flirt. So, Alarink is actually called Link and Link is actually called Alarink but they'll only be called their true names on occasion by other characters, almost never in the description (by which I mean we have a name change in the penultimate chapter, but, long way away yet). Similarly, Princess Zelda is always referred to as 'the Princess' or 'Princess Zelda' to distinguish from the few times I call Zoelda Zelda in the main text. It should make sense in the context, but in case you're confused, here's an even more confusing way of putting it._

 _As for the Princess, our next chapter is named after her and just kinda gives you all you need to know about her (it's about double the length of this chapter, there's no good reason for that, just more fact establishing)._

 _Finally, Alarink. He's great. So many sides to him that I just loved writing. It's been like 4 weeks since I finished writing this and he's still constantly on my mind, I still find myself influenced by him and every new character I write has an element of him within._

 _If you take nothing else from this story, take just a splash of Alarink's character with you - perhaps not his overtly sexual side but one of his others that's revealed later on._

 _So, I'd say follow, review, chat to me, what have you, but, let's face it, no one's doing that. Shout out to the two peeps following this though_ _! You're both awesome, thanks! And, you know, if any of you do want to say anything at all to me, you know how to do that._

 _Have a nice week, see you next one._

 _~The-progressively-more-passive-aggressive-_ _in-her-notes WWQ_


	6. 5 Princess Zelda

_You know what this contains by now. That said, this is one of the tamer chapters, only one swear and no violence or major sexual references._

* * *

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _5\. Princess Zelda_

After a few seconds of standing in stunned silence, the Princess finally shook her head, closed her mouth and turned to Link who was stood just behind her, his hand protectively on his weapon. She whispered something to him and he nodded, walking quickly from the room and down the stairs.

"Getting rid of the non-Triforce wielder at last, Zeldy?" Alarink said, his hands crossed over his chest as he watched Link go with a grin.

"Shut up, Link, I'm trying to think." She half-snapped, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"What did you just call me?" Asked he with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't get used to it."

Before he could say anything else, Link came back in with the two guards who had stood at the entrance of the throne room behind him. All three bowed to the Princess.

"Alright, that's enough of that," she muttered under breath, not quite quietly enough, before raising her voice once again. "All rise, I need your assistance."

"Would you like us to remove the Bastard, your Highness?" One guard asked as he rose to his feet.

"No, Alarink has provided us with important information, he's welcome in the Castle at this time." The guards exchanged a shocked look, as Alarink continued to stand with a grin and raised eyebrow. "However, the four of us will be leaving tomorrow morning to gain the blessings of the Zoras, Gorons and Sheikah regarding raising Ganondorf once again."

"Wait, what?" Zoelda asked, a mess of confusion and discomfort.

"We will be in need of weapons and armour, please provide them for us before the morning." The Princess completely ignored Zoelda and continued. "We will also be in need of a larger supper tonight, provide two more settings and a map on the dining table. And the two will be staying the night as well, make up two guest rooms and put suitable weapons and armour in there for them."

"No need for me, gentlemen," Alarink butted in. "I don't particularly like the idea of sleeping here, nothing against you, Princess, I just imagine the beds will be a little too cold for my liking."

The Princess made a noise of disgust. "Fine. Please prepare one guest room for Zoelda. Dismissed." The guards bowed, stealing glances over at Alarink as they did, and left the room to fulfil the Princess' demands.

"We will discuss the strategy from here over dinner tonight." Said she, walking over to the desk by her throne, Link following closely behind - he seemed almost incapable of doing anything without her permission.

"If you don't mind me asking now," Zoelda started, following Alarink as he gestured for her to join him on a bench at the window. "What _is_ going on? What is my part in this and when will I be able to go home?"

"It is impossible for us to know what to tell you, right now, Zelda," The Princess answered, not even looking in her direction but speaking a little more pleasantly. "When we meet with the Sheikah in the hidden village tomorrow, she will tell you all you need to know now."

 _Well that was unhelpful,_ Zoelda thought, "Is there only one member of the Sheikah tribe left?"

"Yes, she's a wise woman who carries the weight of her tribe on her shoulders," Alarink answered before the Princess could, so quickly that Zoelda suspected he might have been trying to stop the Princess saying something. He turned to face her, his chin in his hand as he reclined on the windowsill bench with her perched awkwardly on the end. "I suspect you'll like her."

"Well, that's good to know, I suppose…" Zoelda muttered, turning to look out at Hyrule Town.

With a limited grasp on the geography of this Hyrule, Zoelda noticed the sun setting and suspected she was looking out at Lake Hylia and Gerudo desert, perhaps even the snow peaks in the far distance. The light of the sun seemed to catch on something, causing a small sparkle to grab her attention deep in the heart of the desert. There was no hope of her seeing what it was from this distance, so she turned her attention back to staring out at Lake Hylia and the reflections on the rolling water.

"Zelda," Alarink said her name softly, trying not to catch the Princess' attention. Slowly, she turned her attention from the window onto him and saw him smiling sadly once again. If she knew him better, she would have sworn he only smiled like that with her. "While we can't explain why you are so important right now, please trust us… or just me if you prefer. If we gave you all the information right now, it could cloud your later judgement."

"So, what can you tell me? I'll take anything by this point, because not knowing is turning me insane."

"... You are instrumental to taking down Ganondorf for good. No one is ever going to be able to beat Demise's curse, unfortunately, but we can beat Ganondorf, his physical form, with your assistance."

"And if I refuse?" Zoelda asked quieter, conscious that the Princess was coming over to them.

"Then we'll have to wait for the perfect set of circumstances to arise again." Answered Alarink, turning slightly as Princess Zelda approached.

"How long could that take?"

"Millennia." He suddenly grinned, turning fully away from Zoelda and speaking loudly to the Princess. "Whatcha got there, Zeldy?"

"An address to the people of Hyrule Town telling them that I will be gone for a while and to stay inside until I return," she answered somewhat coldly, looking down at the folded paper in her hands. "Could the two of you please head to the dining hall and wait for us there?"

"Sure," Alarink said, getting up and stretching. "Come on, Zo."

With a slightly worried glance at the speech in Princess Zelda's hand, the brunette rose too and the group made their way out of the Throne room together. At the bottom of the stairs, they split directions and Alarink lead the way to the royal dining hall.

Uncomfortable with the silence, Zoelda started on a topic she prayed Alarink would respond to. "The Princess seems a bit cold to me, not the approachable royalty I had expected."

"Yeah, I've been told she used to be lovely before her father died, though I've never seen that side of her." There was a note of hate in his voice at the end of his statement, likely only noticeable due to his odd accent that the Princess and others didn't seem to have. "I suppose she wasn't prepared to have all of the royal duties dropped on her lap a few months before she's even 18."

"So, she'll turn 18 later this year and, what, she'll be crowned Queen and everything the light touches will be hers?"

"That's not the way I would have said it, but its far more accurate. The shadows belong to the Twili after all." Said he as he pushed the doors to the dining hall open.

It was a large rectangular room a little smaller than the Throne room with a long table set up in the centre, which was already heaped with assorted foods. The perimeter of the room was draped in royal banners and curtains, candelabras set at even points to make up for the lack of windows and natural light. Easily, Alarink lead Zoleda to the back of the room where a smaller square table had been set up with a map of Hyrule in its centre. Slightly uncomfortably, she took a seat on the east side of the map and Alarink to one to the north.

"I hadn't realised that the Twili still had a right to rule in this Kingdom." Zoelda said quietly as palace staff wondered in and out of the room, setting the main table with even more food.

"Hm," Alarink grunted as he looked at the map of Hyrule. "They didn't before the events of the Twilight era. The old Queen made it a law after the Mirror shattered to honour Princess Midna and her contributions in putting Ganondorf to rest again. It's an honorary law, one I doubt anyone really cares about since no one's seen the Twilight Princess for over two decades."

"Is it possible that she died with the Pestilence?"

"No." Alarink said flatly. "The Pestilence only affected Hyrule, as far as we know."

"But you can't get into the Twilight realm with the Mirror shattered, so is it truly possible to know that with certainty?"

"... There are work arounds to any situation, Zoleda. But, no, I suppose you're right that no one in Hyrule knows for sure or not that Princess Midna is alive."

His guarded manner of speaking was making Zoelda suspected that she was getting to a topic he didn't want to talk about, nevertheless, she decided to press on with her questions. "You know a lot about the laws of the Kingdom. How come?"

Alarink made no response, continuing to stare at the map.

"... Link, I heard what they were calling you in town: 'Bastard Prince'." Zoelda noticed an angry twitch in his cheek, but still carried on. "I already suspected that your father was unfaithful to Ilia, but did he sleep with the Queen? Are you royalty? If you had been born in wedlock, could you have been ruler of this land?"

There was a tense silence, one that made Zoelda wonder if she had pushed too far. Then Alarink started laughing. It echoed all around the hall, making royal staff stop and stare as they passed by. It almost made her feel more uncomfortable than the silence had.

"Ha! Sweetheart, with my status among the civilians, I'm not even fit to rule the unattended shadows anymore." He grinned manically at her, though his words held a sad undertone.

Just as she was going to respond, the Princess and Link walked in to the room. Alarink was smiling normally again by the time the two joined them, the Princess moving to sit opposite Alarink with Link taking a seat between him and the Princess. "Did you scare the civilians shitless, your Highness?" He asked as a pair of butlers brought them all glasses water.

"I hope not," the Princess responded, looking at the map. "I just told them that the final confrontation with Ganondorf is close at hand and they will need to be prepared for anything." A group of royal staff started to bring the food from the large table over to them to choose from. It made Zoelda's head hurt when she looked at it all, not remembering a time when she had last seen so much food for four people, though she supposed that the royal family had enough money to be able to afford to eat so luxuriously. She took the opportunity to eat well, suspecting that it might be a while before she ate so well again.

As they ate, the Princess started to list the strategy for the next day, getting Alarink's input more than anyone else's. It wasn't like Link would answer her and Zoelda had no idea what she was doing anyway, so she ate in silence half listening to the strategy planning as she thought about what her part in this could be.

She hated not knowing why she was so important, what she was meant to be doing here.

In the end, the Princess agreed that it was best for Alarink to get the Zora's blessing to revive Ganondorf while the rest of them headed to Kakariko, where the girls would split from Link as he headed to the Goron elder and they to the Hidden Village. It worried Zoelda to be splitting from Alarink - hell, they'd barely been apart since she turned up so she'd come to rely on him - but she knew it was probably strategically sound and would give her some time to get to know the Princess on a more personal level and perhaps get a better read on her.

"Are you sure you don't want to spend the night and head out with us in the morning, Alarink?" The Princess asked as their plates were removed. "It would be easier that way."

"Thanks, Zeldy, but no," Alarink said, beginning to rise from his seat. "As much as I would appreciate the buffer from the name calling, I can't stand sleeping alone. … Perhaps that Zora from earlier is still in town…"

Zelda made a noise of disgust again. "Ugh, please, do whatever you want but don't tell me about it."

"I can't promise I won't tell everyone about my encounters," he winked at Zoelda who was sat uncomfortably in her seat, wondering how she was going to manage without the flirt the next day, how she had come to rely on him so much. "I'll see you tomorrow, Zo. Don't let the Princess get to you too much."

"You are dismissed, Alarink." The Princess glared at him. With an extravagant bow and a second wink at Link, Alarink left the hall. With a long sigh, the Princess said, to no one in particular, "By the Goddesses, that man gets on my nerves."

The Princess turned to whisper to Link as she had in her Throne room, the blonde man nodded and left as he had before, leaving Zoelda alone with the Princess.

Squirming slightly in her seat, Zoelda kept her face neutral as the Princess regarded her. "My apologises for how I've acted today, I can understand how odd this must be for you. And I should say that Alarink truly brings out the worst in me, so I'm sorry I've not acted regally or perhaps as you thought I would."

Zoelda blinked, surprised by the Princess' sudden change in tone. The blonde smiled as she saw the blink, obviously expecting the surprised response. With that smile, she looked a lot like all the Zeldas from legend, far more approachable. "We can start again in the morning, I think. Allow me to show you to your room for the night. I hope you find it to your liking."

The Princess rose from her seat and Zoelda followed hastily. They made their way through the Castle much like Zoelda and Alarink had, with the Princess perhaps stopping a little more frequently than he had as they meandered their way around in silence. Eventually, they made their way to the sleeping quarters, and Princess Zelda opened a door on their left, letting her partner in to a small, squareish room dressed up gaudily in royal pinks, purples and reds. A four-poster bed stood in the centre of the room, with a wardrobe, set of draws and desk against the walls. On the wall opposite the bed rested a large window that opened out to a view of the Castle courtyard and Castle Town just beyond.

"I hope this will suffice," the Princess said from her place at the door. "There is a nightgown in the wardrobe for tonight and a set of armour and weapons for tomorrow. Link will come and get you for breakfast tomorrow morning. Sleep well."

As Zoelda turned to the doorway again, the Princess was already gone, her heels clicking on the floor as she went. With a sigh, she closed the door and went over to the wardrobe and pulled out the nightgown. She glanced over at the armour for tomorrow and shuddered, she would worry about _that_ in the morning. With somewhat clinical detachment, she drew the curtains on the Town and changed into a pale purple nightgown that reached the middle of her shins, clearly made to be floor-length on the shorter Hylians, and climbed under the silk covers.

Everything about the room screamed riches and grandeur, a step away from the natural room in Alarink's tree-house and her own cluttered and simple Uni room back home. With a shudder, she decided to stop comparing the room to others, fearing homesickness would strike at her again.

Regardless, after a long day and the exhaustion that came with having ridden a horse for the first prolonged period of time, sleep came easy in the cold and slippery silk sheets. Once again, Zoelda didn't dream, but that lingering and uncomfortable presence that she consciously associated with Demise was there, resting in the back of her mind, waiting for the perfect time to strike…

* * *

It was a knock at the door that woke her the next morning. Half asleep, she attempted to gracefully make her way out of the bed, before realising that silk sheets cannot be exited gracefully and falling half out, dragging herself the rest of the way on her hands and knees. Smoothing her nightgown down, she wondered over to the door, opening it in such a way to protect her modesty.

Link looked at her with a raised eyebrow, clearly expecting her to already be up and ready.

"Oh, crap!" Zoelda exclaimed to herself, turning away from the door and telling him she wouldn't be a moment. As she went into the wardrobe and pulled out the armour prepared for her, she cringed and regretted not bringing her bag of Ilia's clothes up with her.

It was a battle dress somewhat similar in style to the one the Princess had worn in Hyrule Warriors, as far as Zoelda could tell, though this one was a deep purple and slightly shorter, only reaching her knee, leaving her lower legs exposed. Wildly uncomfortable at wearing such a skimpy piece of armour, she left Ilia's leggings on under the open front skirt, guessing it was meant to be worn with shorts on anyway. She pulled on the pair of armoured long boots provided and grimaced as she noticed they were slightly heeled, though at least they were the right size.

This was easily the most impractically armour she had ever seen as she looked at herself in the mirror of the wardrobe door. Her arms were protected by flouncy sleeves that reached her elbows and gauntlets below there. Most of her neck and upper chest was exposed, but her torso was protected by tough, fabric corset. At her waist was a thick metal belt that 'stylishly' held a pair of rapier sheaths and a strap crossed her chest to secure a bow and quiver to her back and waist.

Ever since she had arrived in Hyrule, Zoelda had had to do everything with her long hair down, so she gratefully used the metal bands provided to put it half up in a style that mirrored most of the Princess' of legend's, making her realise how much more pointed her ears were now than back home. It wasn't overly practical as she shook her head and the tendrils framing her face slapped her cheeks and neck, but it was better than leaving it down again and the bands were too narrow to do much else with.

Satisfied, as much as she thought she could be, Zoelda bundled Ilia's clothes up under her arm and went back to the door, closing it behind her as Link regarded her from where he lent against the opposite wall. He nodded his approval and started off down the hall, leaving her to follow behind him, walking slightly shakily in her heels.

Eventually, they arrived at the dining hall, where a small breakfast was set up on the table they'd eaten at the night before. The Princess was stood just behind it in a paler pink version of the dress-armour that Zoelda wore, though it fit her far better and she could wear the breastplate with it without suffocating herself. She looked over at Zoelda as she made her way to the breakfast table and nodded in approval before turning back to her conversation with the royal staff about the final things they would need for their journey.

With only a glance over at Link to make sure she could, Zoelda sat down at the table and ate some of the food spread, half listening to the Princess request food provisions and the fastest royal horses for her and Link, telling them that Zoelda would take the horse that she had rode up on. Momentarily, Zoelda worried that Rogue might have been hurt or hungry over night before remembering that he was picketed in a safe spot with plenty of food and water and Malanya to keep him company.

The Princess came to join Link and Zoelda at the breakfast table as the staff left, she helped herself to the arranged food as she spoke to the brunette, "I trust you slept well last night, Zoelda?"

"Oh, yes, thank you. And thank you for the armour."

"Not at all, I'm glad it fits well enough. I was a little worried it might be too short, being that you are much taller than most Hylians." The Princess stood and indicated that her own dress reached mid shin, where Zoelda imagined that her own was meant to rest. "Well, we must be off as soon as possible if we want to make it to the Hidden Village before sunset. Please finish up here and use the facilities if needs be, I will meet you both in the courtyard."

With clicking heels, she left the room quicker than Zoelda could finish her bite and stand up, Link looked after his Princess a little angrily as he too stood. He turned with a small smile to Zoelda and gestured for her to follow him as they left the room as well. With considerable speed, he lead the way to the bathrooms and then the foyer which was filled with more royal staff than Zoelda had seen there yesterday. Seeming to pay no heed to the way they looked judgementally at him, Link opened the foyer doors for her as they entered the courtyard.

Zoelda still found being in the company of so much grandeur and royalty unnerving, perhaps even more so without Alarink to talk to and guide her with a sly smile. As they made their way to the Princess, who was stood washing her hand in the fountain, she wondered where Alarink was and how he had spent the night, trying not to think too much about who he could have spent the night with.

Once again, the Princess looked the two of them up and down, as though she was making sure they were presentable enough to be seen with her, before leading the way out of the courtyard and into Castle Town.

It was a very different experience to walk through the Town behind the Princess and next to her own personal knight than it had been with Alarink. Obviously, there was no name calling, pushing or shoving - there were a lot less people altogether seeing as it was still rather early in the morning - but people still did come respectfully close to ask the Princess for advice on their day to day matters. She answered them all sweetly with a lovely smile, something that Zoelda would expect of royalty, yet did not really expect of the Princess given how she had acted the day before.

Regardless, as they quickly made their way through town, many people tried to get the wisdom of the "Goddess' daughter" as she was often called. Zoelda was beginning to suspect that everyone in Hyrule had a nickname, whether they liked it or not. Briefly, she wondered what hers could end up being, before she heard whispers of Alarink's names and wondered if he was gossiped about even when he wasn't present.

She shook her head. Really, she shouldn't be surprised to hear the way that he is talked about behind his back, he seemed to be the whole Kingdom's scapegoat after all.

Finally, they reached the drawbridge that Zoelda had crossed with him the day before. On the other side of it stood two huge horses - one white, one grey - both outfitted in royal saddles and bridles, a Triforce branded into the white one's flank. The Princess went over to the white horse and stroked him gently, letting him know it was her. Zoelda thought that that was perhaps the first time she had seen the Princess' true smile.

In contrast to the loving way that the Princess approached her mount, Link approached the grey horse more practically, stroking her gently as he tightened her straps and perused her saddle bags. He was also smiling, a small and gentle smile that looked somehow both real and forced.

Zoelda walked around the bridge to where her and Alarink had picketed Malanya and Rogue the day before. To her surprise, Malanya was already gone, leaving Rogue alone at the fence with a refilled trough of food and water. He snickered at her as she walked up to him, stroking him as she moved to check his straps were secure before going through her bag of clothes and weapons, stuffing Ilia's clothes from the day before inside.

Just as she was about to close the bag, she noticed a small piece of folded parchment inside. Frowning slightly, she opened it and smiled as she realised that Alarink had left her a message, wishing her luck and letting her know he would be at the Hidden Village for her later that evening. It was an odd and sweet thing for him to do, one that made her wonder what had possessed him to leave her a good luck note, but she didn't linger as she finished her adjustments to Rogue's packs.

With as much grace as she could manage - which wasn't much normally, and even less in her armour dress - she mounted Rogue and walked him over to the Princess and Link, who were both mounted on their own horses. The Princess gave her a look over as she seemed to do every time someone entered her field of vision. With a nod, she said, "Well then, shall we leave now? It is likely to take us most of the day to get to the Hidden Village, we shouldn't wait too much longer to start."

With that, Link set out first, the Princess behind him and Zoelda behind her, a standard protective formation, she suspected as they made their way onto the monster infested Hyrule Field.

* * *

With few monstrous encounters as they made their way across southern Hyrule Field and then Kakariko Gorge to the village of Kakariko itself, the journey was reasonably quick, though it could have perhaps been quicker had they only crossed eastern Hyrule Field. Zoelda felt no desire to point that out as the three of them made their way into Kakariko, since the Princess was bragging about how quickly they'd managed to get there ("I'm shocked that we made it here before noon!").

Moving their horses into a gentle walk rather than the all-out run they had travelled at all day, they dismounted in Eldin Spring at Princess Zelda's instruction, allowing the horses to recuperate in the water that allegedly had healing properties. Zoelda wasn't really paying attention to the Princess as she dismounted from Rogue, giving him a few pats and a carrot from one of his bags, she was tired and saddle-worn again, though less than she had been yesterday.

She was also lightly bleeding from a cut on her left arm where a Bulblin archer had caught her off guard, thankfully the arrow had been somewhat stopped by her flouncy sleeve, but it had done enough damage to bleed and create a dull ache for the rest of the ride. Trying to be discreet about it, she washed her cut with the apparently healing water before rushing after the Princess and Link who seemed to be in whispered discussion once more.

As she had suspected, the Princess and Link had not tried to engage in any sort of conversation with her the whole time they had galloped and fought their way across the fields. The Princess had occasionally spoken to Link but Zoelda was beginning to suspect that the two would forget she was there if she didn't constantly try and force her way closer to them to hear what they were discussing. Unfortunately, she was yet to catch anything that had been whispered between them, but she was determined to get to know their characters one way or another.

As they made their way fully into the Village, Zoelda noticed that it was beginning to become more vegetated than it had been in the Twilight era: there were a few blossoming trees and patches of grassy flowers growing up through the cracks in the dirt. The Village itself seemed to have a smaller population than before, there were no more houses than there had been twenty years ago and there were very few people - or rather Gorons - walking the streets. Zoelda suspected the Pestilence to be responsible for this as she noted many of the Gorons seemed to be younger, as far as her estimation of Goron age could tell. It brought to mind one of those questions that plagued her every now and again, usually whenever she saw a child Goron:

How, in the name of Hylia, do these rocks reproduce? And how can they be affected by a Pestilence?

She tried to push those questions from her mind as they arrived at the Elde Inn a little after noon, the Princess leading the way in. She spoke to the Goron behind the desk briefly and requested four rooms for the night and three meals for now. He did what anyone would do when requested something by royalty: began sorting things immediately as the trio were guided to a table by the window, which was coated in dirt and dust. The Princess was furiously writing a letter as they waited for lunch to be served, Link watching her intently as Zoelda watched more on the sly, half looking out the dirty window, half looking at the two of them.

Lunch was served almost immediately after the Princess had finished writing her letter. A large Goron lay three plates of salad and meat on the table for them to eat, as well as a glass of water each, and left them to eat after Princess Zelda charged it all to the royal treasury. Silently as she ate, Zoelda thought about how the Hyrulian economy might work - considering she had little idea how the economy worked back home, it was a silly thing to think about.

As they were finishing their meals, the Princess went over the plan for the afternoon and evening again. "Link will head to Goron City and request permission from them to revive Ganondorf once again. Zoelda, you and I will head straight to the Hidden Village. By my estimation, we should arrive by early evening, giving us time to talk to Lady Sheikah before the sun sets."

The Goron who served them came over and cleared their plates away, thanking them for taking the time to eat here. The whole while he and the Princess exchanged compliments and pleasantries, Zoelda was thinking about how much more information she could get out of the Princess with the one on one time provided as they travelled to the Village. At least, that's what she hoped from their journey together.

Quite suddenly, Link stood up, took the letter that Princess Zelda had written for him and left with a swift nod. Zoelda watched with a raised eyebrow, surprised that the Princess would allow it and by how quickly he had walked. Glancing over at her, she saw the small smile on her features as she watched Link leave, an unguarded and secret smile that one only has when they think no one is watching them. It seemed to explain so much to Zoelda about the relationship between the Princess and her knight, how long they had known one another and helped each other through hardships.

"I suppose we should be off too," Princess Zelda said, rising gracefully from the table.

"I guess so… Lead the way." Zoelda responded as she got up much less gracefully, almost knocking the chair over behind her as she rose. The Princess watched interestedly before starting towards the door.

"Considering who I suspect you to be, Zoelda, you are certainly not living up to my expectations," said she as they walked side by side.

"Thanks, your Highness," Zoelda half-snapped before she could catch herself. "That's just the vote of confidence I needed."

Princess Zelda stared at her for a moment, her face a mask of shock and surprise as they mounted their horses. Suddenly, she started laughing, cheerful and cute laughter one would expect from a girl her age and not from the royal Princess Zoelda had come to know. "I appreciate your honesty, Zoelda. Oh, and please call me Zelda, no need for the formality."

"Okay…" Zoelda muttered to herself as they walked on their horses out of town into eastern Hyrule Field. The Princess was still chuckling as they left civilisation, so Zoelda decided to push her boundaries a little, test the blonde's true character. "If you don't mind me saying, Zelda, you seem to have a lot of different, how shall I put this, personas? Characters? Regardless of the right term, you seem to have several different styles of speaking depending on the person you are talking to."

"Doesn't everyone?" She responded with, glancing over at the brunette who fingered the string her drawn bow, having it ready if needs be. "I've seen you act very differently in my company to how you acted with Alarink, though perhaps that is true of everyone… But, I suppose you're right, I do have several very different manners of speaking, depending on the person."

"Is there any particular reason that everyone acts so differently with Alarink?" Zoelda had to ask in follow up, suspecting she might get a more sincere answer from the Princess than she would from him.

"Yes, there are several, none of which are nice and most are a result of me," answered she, looking out ahead of her as they galloped across the field, Zoelda shooting down potential danger whenever she could. "You see, Alarink first appeared before me eight years ago. He asked for things I could not in my right mind give him, but I sympathised with him, he had recently lost his father as I had recently lost my mother. The Kingdom was a little in turmoil at the time, you see, it had had no right leader for two years by that point, I was far too young to ascend - I still am - yet my father had no right to the throne either. Alarink arrived at the right time - or perhaps wrong for him - for me and Father to prove to the Kingdom that I could be a good leader."

"So you caused him to be cast out of the royal family?"

"What, no! Wherever did you get the idea that he was a member of the royal family?"

"I, um, I had heard him called 'Bastard Prince', I presumed he was your older, illegitimate brother. Have I got that wrong?"

"Yes, I'm afraid you have," the Princess looked off into the distance as they started up the narrow path to the village. "Alarink is only eight months older than me at best, so he could hardly be my brother. I simply cast him out of the city when he arrived before me claiming to be the Hero's son. I didn't want to believe him, my best friend was the next iteration of the Hero to me, so I ordered they exchange names, thus Link became Alarink and vise versa."

"And you sent him from the city to live a rural life in the country?" Zoelda asked, still trying to get her head around the fact that he was about the same age as her - he had seemed so much older in both his world view and features.

"No. Actually, I told him he could live a run of the mill life here in Hyrule as Alarink, or he could return to his mother as Link and not bother the Kingdom again. I still don't know why he stayed, it seemed like such an easy way to be rid of all the haters calling my Link a fraud." The Princess was glaring into space as they approached the step to the Village.

"I'd imagine he stayed especially so that Link would always be called a fraud," Zoelda responded as they dismounted, picketing their horses close by so they would be safe. "It seems like such a harsh sentence for a young girl to carry out… Do you regret it?"

"No." Her features were set harshly as she thought about it. "Alarink has given me only one thing to regret these past eight years: that I gave him an option to stay in Hyrule and haunt me, like the ghost of my mother telling me I made the wrong choice."

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed into the Hidden Village.

* * *

 _AN:_

 _The fact that barely anyone is reading this isn't going to stop me from publishing and loving it._

 _After the last chapter, I seem to remember taking a week or so off from writing before starting this one, so I'm going to put this firmly in August. I'm fairly certain this was early Augustish, I know it took me several sittings to complete and I was much happier with the end of it than the start. Actually, now that I think about it, this was written in the second week of August because in the first half I had social obligations and the second I didn't._

 _Fun fact for you, whenever you notice my writing being slightly better, or more metaphorical for real life, or just generally easier to read - chances are that was written in a time when I wasn't having to go out and see people or when I wasn't having prolonged text conversations that continuously broke my train of thought. This is only true until chapter 12 again, after then things change and we'll discuss that later, but these next few chapters are the beginning of that change._

 _So, anyway, this is about Princess Zelda. And every time I read it to edit it, I hate the middle third of it and can't see a way to fix it. However, I like the final third of it a lot and know that it's all keyish information._

 _Pretty much all we get from it is a little more character, I don't know whether you'd call it development or insight, but it's more character. And this is probably one of the first times that people can start to educatedly guess who Alarink's mother is. And, more importantly for right now, who Lady Sheikah is._

 _Other than that, it's the last chapter I wrote that I genuinely had problems with and somewhat dislike, the rest are all a lot better and/or I genuinely like them._

 _On that note, the next chapter is from Alarink's POV and I had a great deal of fun stepping inside his mind for the first time._

 _So, as we start to get into the chapters I enjoy and have a clearer idea of when I wrote them and what was going on at the time, I hope you stick with me and that you notice the quality pick up. Perhaps you'll comment on it in that little review box?_

 _But lets face it, there are less than 5 people reading this, chances of anyone caring are slim to none at best._

 _Anyway, have a nice week. Happy Holidays, too, since I'm imagining a lot of you are now breaking up for whatever religious festivals you believe in, I hope you have a lovely one and that you go back to work in the New Year refreshed! There's two chapters of this left before the New Year, so let's hope we can pick up more fans in that time..._

 _~WWQ_


	7. 6 Zoras

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _6\. Zoras_

It was still mostly dark when Alarink woke with a start, his hand immediately rising to rest above his fast beating heart. His hair was plastered to his neck and forehead with cold sweat and he fought the urge to pull the covers closer around him, knowing he was more feverish than cold.

That, and he didn't particularly want to wake his partner, who was still sound asleep next to him.

Running a hand through his hair as his heart beat slowed and breathing evened out, Alarink grinned. Sure, two nights of little sleep and dreams of death and Demise weren't exactly fun, but he'd had a lot of fun before he fell asleep that night. Zoras might not mate in the same way as humans and Hylians did, but that didn't exactly stop them from having sexual relations with one another.

Alarink was still grinning as he began to pull on his trousers, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Nept was still asleep. It was always odd to him to see a Zora sleep in a human bed rather than their water baths, though he knew that one night in a bed rather than water wouldn't do them much harm. Over the last eight years, Alarink had been shunned by almost all of Hyrule, and yet, the most prideful and honourable race of Hyrulians had always been his favourite. The Zoras had always seemed to welcome him into their scaly arms despite the fact that their King hated him with a passion.

Well... King Ralis hated him more because of his relations with his daughter than anything else.

Alarink smirked as he pulled his tunic on and tied his hair back, he was _really_ looking forward to seeing the King and the Princess today.

It had been a month or so since he had last visited Zoras Domain and he had really missed the general lack of Zora company in that time. Sure, there had been the occasional one-night-stand with Zoras like Nept, or Mika, or… Alarink racked his brain for the name of the other Zora he'd slept with in the last month or so, but it escaped him, just as he escaped his room, leaving Nept to wake up alone later in the morning when the sun was up.

Closing the door behind him as quietly as he could, Alarink made his way out of Telma's Inn, stopping on the front step to lace his boots. There was really no need for him to get up so early, his only task for the day was to get the Zora's blessing and be in Kakariko Village by the end of the night, early morning at the latest. It would likely take half a day for him to get to Zora's Domain, and then another half to get to Kakariko if he ran Malanya fast. Time would have allowed for him to sleep until dawn at least and have a good meal in the Inn.

But, he had made up his mind the day before that he would try to get to the Hidden Village by early evening at the latest. He wanted to see Zoelda's face when she met Lady Sheikah, wanted to see the surprise first hand when she was told who she was, what her part in this legend would be.

As he made his way through town, he was surprise to see how much more the name calling got to him without Zoelda by his side. It wasn't like there were many people up at this hour - only those setting up their market stalls and the guards - and there had been more calling at him the night before after he had left the Castle alone and picked up Nept from the fountain, but Alarink could hardly deny the fact that the girl who had appeared out of nowhere was having a very serious effect on him.

She'd very nearly figured out who his mother was the day before with her questioning of that annoying nickname of his. He'd tried time and time again to get that particular nickname banned, he thought the Princess would want people not to call him-

"Mr. Bastard Prince himself! What are you doing up at this hour? It's a bit late to be looking for lovers, isn't it?"

Alarink glared at the guard as he crossed the drawbridge out of the Goddess-forsaken town. Truly, he hated Castle Town more than any other place in Hyrule, yet he was always drawn back to it for some reason or another, torturing himself with the unending name calling and pushing time and time again.

Stroking Malanya as he refilled hers and Rogue's food and water - something he had to do every morning as Ordon's stable hand - he remembered how his tunic had been ripped in town the day before, how he had sat through a long audience with the Princess with a giant rip down his back. He'd still not bothered to repair it after getting to Telma's, knowing it would end up discarded on the floor sooner or later anyway. It was only now that he thought he probably should have fixed it.

Instead, he just shrugged and went through the bag of clothes he'd given Zoelda yesterday, knowing he would have put something in there that would fit him. As he riffled through the bag of clothes, he recalled how surprised he's been to see a woman as tall as Zoelda when they first met. Hylians were rarely above five foot, and humans rarely above 5' 5", yet Zoelda was not much shorter than him, though he was short for his race.

Alarink pulled out a simple long sleeve wool tunic that had belonged to Ilia from the bag and shrugged it on, putting the torn one at the bottom of the bag, vowing to mend it when he got home. The new tunic was a little tight across the shoulders and the sleeves ended at his elbow, the body resting just on his belt, but it was good enough as he began to put all of his weapons back on. Briefly, he considered going to get his actual armour, before realising it would take too much time for him to get back to the treehouse and find his armour out at this point, he figured there would be time for that later.

He tightened his short sword sheath and went to close the bag of clothes when a cloak caught his eye. Pulling it out, he frowned; he hadn't remembered packing it and prayed to the Goddesses that Zoelda hadn't seen it. Though, as he bundled it up under his other cloak to keep it hidden, he realised that if she had seen it, she would have asked enough questions to make him wish he hadn't killed the Kargarok.

Shaking his head, he realised he would never have wished that on her, even if she had asked him enough questions to figure out where he came from and who his mother was, a fact he wanted to keep from her as long as possible.

Finishing his preparations to Malanya's packs and grabbing an apple from one to eat, he remembered how scared he'd been when he returned to his treehouse the day before and found her missing. After seeing how well she fought later, he realised how foolish it had been for him to worry about her, but the fear had remained unendingly until he found her note. Pulling out the note from his pocket, Alarink wondered why he had bothered to keep it, though he now realised he could use it to write her a good luck note for the day she had ahead of her.

It wasn't much, just some well-wishing for having to suffer the Princess and 'Link' on her own for the day, but he felt it was important that she knew that he would be back to rescue her from them before the day was done. With an honest smile, he tucked it into the bag of clothes on Rogue's back, tossing the apple core into the stallion's food trough.

The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon as Alarink mounted Malanya. Immediately, they started at a run, turning away from the sun as they quickly crossed Southern Hyrule Field into the Lake Hylia region.

As he crossed the Great Bridge of Hylia, he watched the sun continue to climb to his right and wondered if Zoelda had set out with the others yet.

* * *

It was just before noon when Alarink arrived at Zora's Domain. Eating a simple lunch of bread and berries in the saddle, he watched as a number of Zoras swam around in the basin and the Zora royal guard swam up and down the waterfall. Zora's Domain had always his favourite place in Hyrule, it was gorgeous and filled with a race of people that somewhat respected him and whose company was by far his favourite to keep.

Plus, it was secluded enough that there was rarely any other race in attendance there, just the Zoras protecting the waterways and living by their own rules.

Smiling, Alarink dismounted from Malanya and took off his boots, socks and weapons, leaving them in the shade of a nearby tree as he prepared himself to dive into the basin. Having visited the Domain a lot since arriving in Hyrule, Alarink knew how it worked and how he should announce his presence - by diving into the basin with as much noise as possible to alert the Princess and have her take him from there.

And since he had had many relations with Zoras, he knew how to swim and behave like one - it had been the Zora Princess herself who had taught him. By Hylia, he could hold his breath longer than everyone but the Zoras and Gorons, though he had to admit that he didn't even know if Gorons needed to breathe.

The Gorons were a mystery to every race but their own.

Grinning as he walked his way to the edge of a small cliff looking over the basin, Alarink leant over the edge and dived in, cutting the water cleanly, but louder than any Zora would have. He swam around for a bit under the water, greeting some of the residents with a grin as he did, watching as some swooned at him and others whispered to their friends. There was no name calling here, though he could feel the hate from the Kings guards who cared for him even less than some Hylians.

Finally - it took much longer than usual today, Alarink noted - the Zora Princess swam down the waterfall to the Throne room to greet him. As he saw her swim down, he surfaced a little ways from fall to wait for her, shaking some of the water from his hair as he waited. Quickly, she swam up to him and pulled him into a close embrace, pecking him with kisses as he laughed.

Princess Rutalis looked a lot like her grandmother, the late Queen Rutela, though Rutalis was much younger and more of a blue than a pink in colour, her scales creating a shorter dress shape that left her arms and legs exposed to be adorned with various jewellery. While her grandmother had had seaweed-esque locks of hair, Rutalis had more the shape of a fishtail for hair, like her father, only hers drifted low down her back. Everyone's issue with her being enamoured with Alarink came from the fact that she was only sixteen, and while that made her only a few years younger than him, to the Zoras, she was still a young child, looking barely over the age of twelve.

With that in mind, Alarink was always very careful to never over step his boundaries with her, fearing the wrath of many Zoras and banishment from the one place he loved more than any other in Hyrule.

Still, if she was going to kiss him as much as she did, he wasn't going to leave her hanging as he rested his fingers against the gills at her natural waist.

"Hey there, Princess," Alarink drawled. "Sorry it's been a while…"

"No, no," Rutalis replied, her voice both girly and high pitched as well as gurgling as though speaking through water. "I'm just glad you came back for me, Linky."

"Well," he chuckled as she pulled him closer, "as much as I would like to stay like this and say that I'm here exclusively for you, I'm actually here on Royal business and need to speak to your father on behalf of Princess Zelda."

"Oh," she sighed sadly, looking up at him. "Can you stay after, so we can spend some time together?"

"Sorry, Princess," Alarink stroked her hair-tail consolingly. "I've got to go afterwards and tell Zelda the news."

"Then I won't take you to Father," Rutalis said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Come on, now, Ruta…"

"After you've told the Princess, will you come back to me?" If she had eyelashes, she would be looking up at him through them, he was sure, as it was now she simply looked up at him with wide golden eyes, waiting for him to say what she wanted to hear.

"...If it works out far better than I could ever hope, yes, I'll come back to you." Alarink answered, not meeting her eye as he tried not to lie, knowing he likely would never return to Zora's domain after this.

"Yay!" The Zora Princess cheered, taking Alarink's hands and spinning him around in the water, he couldn't help but laugh as she did. "Alright, let's go see Father!"

Quite suddenly after the spinning, she pulled him after her up to the waterfall base, still giggling in a way that made her seem younger still. Though, the giggling was infectious and Alarink found himself joining in as they swam, trying to figure out how he was going to get the King's blessings. As they reached the base of the waterfall, Rutalis wrapped arms around him quite tightly and then began to swim upwards.

It was always in the moments that she took him up to the Throne room - which wasn't that often, admittedly - that he was reminded of how strong she was, despite her small stature and young age. Alarink remembered when he had first met her, she'd barely looked over five then, but she was easily the strongest swimmer among the Zoras, her royal blood allowing her to swim faster and longer than many others, some of whom were a century older than her. Even back then, she was just as cute and overwhelming, wrapping Alarink around her fins immediately.

Despite being much shorter than him, Rutalis had no difficulty carrying him up the waterfall, and they arrived at the top much sooner than he had expected. He braced himself for the dismount as Rutalis threw him from her into the basin at the foot of the throne, allowing herself to land with grace just to the side of her father's throne. Coming up sputtering a few seconds later, pulling himself out of the basin and shaking off as much water as he could, Alarink emerged before King Ralis much less gracefully, but performing a deep bow of respect that always appeared too sarcastic.

The King was scowling down at him as he looked up at him through his fringe, smiling his winning smile.

King Ralis hadn't changed much in appearance since the Twilight era, apart from getting much taller and wider, bulking out to traditional royal male size as he got older, he was still slight smaller than his ancestors at present. In Zora terms, he was still quite young, looking as though he was in his mid to late twenties in Hylian eyes, though his face was hardened with age and the knowledge that he was one of very few people who has survived both the Twilight era and the Pestilence. Although, he had been damaged by the Pestilence; the entirety of the right side of his face was marked by what appeared to be third degree burns, his right eye clouded and blind.

Colin had told Alarink the story of how his father had helped to save Ralis' life back in the day, of how the King had always respected Link. Back then, when he first visited the Domain, Alarink had been foolish enough to think that Ralis might respect him too, much like he had his father. Of course, he hadn't. Everyone who had known Link hated the fact that he'd had a son out of wedlock, the King of the Zoras was no exception.

Plus, Ralis didn't particularly care for the fact that his daughter had become enamoured with him.

"Greetings, King Ralis, from Link, son of the Hero," Alarink said formally in his deep bow, knowing it would catch the King's attention - Alarink was only formal if the occasion was truly dire.

"Rise, Alarink, Bastard son of the Twilight Hero, from Ralis, the King of the Zora." The King said in reply, sarcastically and annoyed despite the formality. Slowly Alarink rose from his bow, trying to hide his annoyance at the King as he smoothed his hair down and grinned.

"Ah, it's great to be back in the Domain again!" Said he as he stretched, beginning to walk the circumference of the room. "You've got a truly lovely place here, your Majesty."

"So you tell me everytime we meet, Alarink," Ralis sighed, knowing better than to try and get him to act more formally by now. "Flattery is still not going to redeem my opinion of your father or you, I'm afraid, so why don't you tell me what brings you here?"

"Well, if you insist on getting to the point so quickly…" Alarink muttered as he came to stand in front of the throne, putting on his most serious face as he looked up at the King. "I've been sent here by Princess Zelda herself to gain your blessing to revive Ganondorf one last time."

"Out of question." Ralis responded immediately, turning his good eye to look at his daughter. "I can't be putting Rutalis in that kind of danger."

"I can handle myself, Father." Said the Princess, drawing herself up and challenging him with her eyes.

Fearing an imminent royal argument, Alarink turned his attention to Rutalis. "Ruta, Dear, would you mind if I spoke to your father alone?"

"Whatever you are going to say to him, you can say to me." Said she, a challenge in her voice that made her seem so much older.

"What if I am asking for the King's permission for your hand in marriage?"

" _Really?!_ " Rutalis exclaimed, her eyes wide and smile childish.

Smiling that grin he knew to have charmed so many, he winked at her, "Maybe…"

"Okay!" With that, the Zora Princess turned and dove into the throne basin, making her way back down the waterfall with the current speeding her along. Alarink watched her go with a sad smile, he knew how wrong it was of him to get her hopes up like that, but he also knew there was no other way to get the King's blessing.

"You are not marrying my daughter." Ralis said as soon as his daughter had disappeared over the waterfall, his tone final and commanding.

"I wasn't planning to ask," the brunet sighed as he turned back to the King. "I just needed to be sure she would leave so we could talk candidly."

"It's not right for you to get her hopes up like that, Alarink."

"I know, but it's better to give her false hope than to tell her that reviving Ganondorf will kill me." Alarink began unbuckling his weapons belts, trying not to meet Ralis' good eye.

"Pardon?"

"I know you don't care for me, King Ralis. You, much like everyone else, see me as the greatest mistake Father ever made, a constant reminder that he wasn't as good of a man as he made himself out to be." Alarink spoke frankly, giving no room for interruptions or debates as he pulled the last of his weapons belts over his head. "I understand that everyone would rather I stayed with Mother all those years ago, that everyone would have rather I never showed my face in Hyrule. But, it was fated that I came to Hyrule when I did, just as it is fated that Ganondorf will be revived by my hand one last time."

Slowly, Alarink rose to his full height and looked Ralis in the eye as the Zora King regarded his torso through his wet shirt. His eyes widened as he noticed the thick scar running from his left shoulder to right hip, neatly cutting his torso in half on the diagonal. With sad eyes, Alarink watched at Ralis noticed his Triforce segment lit on his left hand, resting in a fist above his heart.

"It is written in the scar that I will be killed by his hand." The brunette said simply as he started to put his weapon belts back on again, slowly and deliberately covering the scar again as he spoke. "Which is why I asked the Princess to let me gain your blessing in reviving him: 'Link' is the Princess' Knight, everyone will listen to him, and she herself has gone to the Sheikah, but you, Ralis, needed more of a reason than that it is simply in the best interest of Hyrule. You've seen first-hand the damage of Ganondorf, you just barely survived the Pestilence. And now you know that reviving him will get rid of that one last thread that ties you to my Father, and to be quite frank, that's all the persuasion you need."

Alarink grinned slightly manically as the King stared at him, a tense silence descending on them.

Finally, Ralis broke it, chuckling slightly before he spoke. "As much as I wouldn't like to see my friend's line die, you've been a constant thorn in everyone's side since you turned up, Link. I'll gladly give you my blessing to revive Ganondorf, if you promise to bring him down for good and go down with him."

As much as it pained Alarink to know that Ralis was only agreeing to this because he knew it would kill him, the brunet smiled that constant, cover up smile he'd managed to perfect over the years and thanked him, beginning to turn around so he could make his way down the waterfall.

"Link," the Zora King called to him, causing him to turn back halfway through preparing to dive. "How do you plan on getting the blessing of the Twili? How will you retrieve Ganondorf's body and the Master Sword from the Twilight Realm? I'm foreseeing the methods you used to persuade me not being as useful on Queen Midna."

"I've already got a speech planned out for her, your Majesty," Alarink grinned as he turned his back on Ralis to face the waterfall again. "You see, while you only agreed to his revival after finding out it will kill me, Midna will want his revival and ultimate death _in spite of_ the fact that it will kill me. The Twili will want to see him dead more than they want to see me dead, that's the big difference between them and other Hyrulians."

With that, Alarink dove into the throne basin and practically flew down the waterfall as he fled the King's harsh gaze and Rutalis' hopeful embrace. He swam like a man possessed until he reached Malanya, launching himself from the water and grabbing his left possessions quickly before mounting her barefoot. The mare ran immediately after he mounted her, instinctively knowing where he wanted to go and what he wanted to avoid.

Alarink didn't look back once as he left Zora's Domain and Princess Rutalis for the last time, putting his socks and shoes on and weapons away while Malanya ran in the direction of the Hidden Village.

It pained him more than he would ever admit to leave the one place in Hyrule he loved behind him, filled with lies to their Princess and the knowledge that their King only gave him his blessing because he wanted him dead. However, he tried not to think about that as Malanya ran him to the Hidden Village and Zoelda. Guessing the time to be early afternoon, he predicted that, if Malanya could keep this speed, he'd arrive in the Hidden Village a little before dinner time.

Grinning, Alarink's mind turned to happier thoughts of Zoelda, picturing her face when she meets the last Sheikah, Lady Impax.

* * *

 _AN:_

 _I don't really think anyone is reading these notes and I don't really have enough time to write this one today, so I'm just going to leave them from now on, it'll just be pure fanfic for the five of you who read this week in and week out._

 _On that note, have a happy holidays or whatever you believe in this time of year, I'll update again next week._

 _~WWQ_

 _PS. If you like Ace Attorney, I wrote a little fanfic during the week for it that's already gotten more views than the entirety of this story combined, so check it out if you like._


	8. 7 Lady Impax

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _7\. Lady Impax_

"Zelda, wait!" Zoelda called after the Princess as she stormed ahead through the narrow cave-like opening into the Hidden Village. It was late afternoon by now and the sun was beginning to edge its way down to the western horizon, meaning the cave-path into the village was dark enough that Zoelda stumbled her way through it, trying not to break her heels as she chased after the Princess.

After a few minutes, the brunette emerged, or rather stumbled out, into the former home of the Sheikah. The Princess was stood just to the left of the entrance, smoothing down her perfect hair as she stared into the town; she didn't even turn as Zoelda approached her, trying to smooth her own hair into something that resembled a bird's nest a little less as she looked out into the Village.

Being a ghost town, Zoelda hadn't expected much to have changed in the Village, and she was unsurprised to find that it was practically the same, with a few plants beginning to crop up here and there among the dirt. The Village still resembled an abandoned town in classic western movies, complete with the occasional tumble weed.

"Come on," the Princess snapped at her as they started into the town, an oppressive silence settling on them that was only broken by the howling wind.

"I'm sorry if I struck a nerve earlier," Zoelda said as they strolled to the back of the Village, the silence becoming unbearable.

"It's fine. You stuck me as the sort to ask questions and think of the possible harm they can do later, I knew what I was getting myself into." Said the Princess, not bothering to look at her or allow her to object. "Just don't do that with Lady Impax when you meet her."

"Oh, so the last Sheikah is still Lady Impaz?" Zoelda asked, deciding to carry on with her questions even after being called out for them. "Isn't she a little old now? She was old in the era of Twilight…"

"No, not _Impaz_." Zelda said in an exasperated tone as they reached the house at the back of the Village. It was a two-storey building built almost into the back wall of the town. It had been repaired in the last two decades, painted white with accents of blue and a bright red Sheikah eye on the door. The building stood out in the relative wasteland setting, showing the one place where life other than cats lived. "She unfortunately died with the Pestilence. We all thought that was the end of the Sheikah line, until Lady _Impax_ arrived shortly after. She helped me a great deal after Mother died, teaching me how to use my Goddess given power and what my part in these Legends will be."

The Princess' tone softened as she spoke about Lady Impax, something Zoelda would have found interesting if it wasn't for the fact that she was thinking about the Impax that she knew. Silently, she prayed to every god and goddess she could think of that this Impax was her Impax, knowing it was an impossibility since she had died in the car with mother.

Zoelda was told to wait back from the building a few paces as the Princess went to knock on the door. It flew open almost before the Princess had returned to stand next to her, giving sight to a lean woman, as tall as Zoelda, in her forties. The woman had a pale tan and platinum white hair in a braid that fell all the way to her waist. Clothed in relatively traditional white and blue Sheikah armour - with a breast plate and gauntlets painted with the Sheikah eye symbol - there was little question that the woman before them was Lady Impax, last of the Sheikah tribe.

She even had a Sheikah eye tattooed over her left eye - three white marks above the eye and a tear below.

It was a tattoo that Zoelda remembered from her childhood. After learning that some murders were tattooed with tears next to their eyes, young Zoelda had once asked her aunt if that was why she had that tattoo. Her aunt had chuckled, along with her mother, and said: _"No, this is a tribal tattoo. Everyone in my family has one."_

"Lady Impax," said the Princess with a curtsey. "It's wonderful to see you again. This is-"

"Aunt Immy!" Zoelda shouted suddenly as she ran into Impax's arms, almost knocking her down in a way she hadn't done when she was a child.

Impax chuckled as she hugged the brunette, as the Princess stared on in disbelief. "Zelda... I always knew you'd come find me again someday. … I've missed you, my girl…"

As Impax pulled herself from Zoelda, she noticed the wound on her arm and began demanding answers. "Zelda, what's this? When did you get hurt?"

"Oh," Zoelda looked down at the cut on her arm with happy, unshed tears in her eyes. She'd almost forgotten it was there, the water from Eldin spring really did seem to have healed it, or at least stopped the pain. "A Bulblin archer got me this morning. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt!"

"Good, though, please be more careful."

"I will, Immy, I got a little careless is all…"

"You need to remember that your armour isn't exactly the best at protecting you, be on your guard." Impax, flicked one of Zoelda's flouncy sleeves to make her point.

"I will, and this armour wasn't exactly my choice." Said she, self-consciously pushing the skirt down a bit lower on her hips. "I would have picked something that fit a little better."

"Yes, well, I certainly had some trouble making my armour accommodate me," Impax gestured to the Sheikah armour she wore. "It seems that breeding with the humans of our world has lead us to be much taller than the standard Hylian or Hyrulian human."

"Lady Impax," the Princess butted in, clearly unhappy at having been left out of the conversation for so long. "What do you mean _'your world'_? Surely you come from here?"

"Princess, where do you think Zelda came from?" Impax asked pointedly, her hand resting on Zoelda's shoulder.

"I… I haven't really thought about it. And for all the talking Zoelda does, she's not exactly provided me with an answer."

"Zoelda, eh?" Impax looked at the brunette. "Who came up with such an on the nose name?"

"Alarink suggested it, and then began using it immediately." Answered Zoelda, causing Impax to start chuckling.

"Why am I not surprised?" Said she as she turned to go into her house. "Come in, I fear we have much to discuss and there's no point doing out in the open."

The three entered the living room of the house and the Zeldas were both surprised by it. The Princess was struck by the sheer amount of stuff in there that she had never seen before - there was a large flat screen TV on the wall above the fireplace and a series of consoles littered the mantle shelf - as well as the simple nature of the furnishing - there were two simple sofas on either side of a low coffee table, which had an arm chair at the end opposite the fireplace.

Zoelda was surprised by how similar it was to Impax's house back home, the only difference being the walls were hung with pictures of the Sheikah through the years, rather than pictures of her and Zoelda's family - though one still stood in the centre of the table, a photo of the four of them sat on the floor watching as Zelda Sr taught her daughter how to play the original Legend of Zelda when she was barely four years old. Once again tears filled her eyes as she looked at the picture of her mother, still so young and so much like her.

"Immy," Zoelda broached the subject as she and the Princess sat on the sofa opposite her, helping themselves to some of the water provided. "I thought you died, but you're still alive, you're still well. … Is Mum…?"

"... No." Impax said simply, looking at the picture on the table instead of meeting Zoelda's eyes. "I'm afraid she's dead."

Taking a ragged breath to stable herself first, Zoelda asked the next question which a note of accusation, "How come you lived? How come she died? What actually happened?"

"The Pestilence." Impax said quietly and simply, meeting Zoelda's eyes.

"How is that possible? What was the Pestilence and how did it get to Mum?"

"It… was something far more deadly than anyone knows. ... It was no normal virus. It was Ganon." Impax said bluntly before sighing and explaining the Pestilence to the girls:

* * *

"As you are both aware, Ganon is the physical reincarnation of calamity, evil and Demise. Because of Demise's curse, it is all but impossible to take it down forever, but there are always ways to put it to rest for a while, though never long enough.

"Ganondorf, the most recent incarnation in this timeline, was killed in the era of Twilight. To prevent him from reviving yet again, Princess Midna took his body with the Master Sword still lodged inside to the Twilight Realm. In breaking the Mirror, she was effectively sealing the Triforce of Power, and the spirit of Demise, away for good. If the way had remained closed, that should have been the end of the story.

"I say _if_ , because it is never that simple. Link, the Twilight Hero, found a way to open the portal to the Twilight Realm. I still don't know how he did that, and I've been enlisted as the guardian of the paths between realms for many years now. Regardless, in opening that pathway again, he damned us all to another fight with Ganondorf in this timeline.

"No one was aware of the fact that Link had opened the path between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm for many years, I believe it was only about eight years ago that people found out.

"However, over the years that Link would come and go between Realms, he allowed Ganondorf to awaken enough that he could release some of his malice upon Hyrule. This was released in the form of the Pestilence, a super virus that took no more than a week to wipe out almost everyone involved in the Twilight era. The first it took was Link, the last was Zelda Sr.

"I was with her when she died and I can promise you it was quick and painless, my girl. We were driving back to your house from mine when it got her. I won't give you the details, it wouldn't be fair, but it was quick and I knew exactly what it was, and how I let it get to her when we visited Hyrule earlier that day.

"The car accident cover up was also my fault. I turned us into a fence to make it look like we had both died in a freak accident. Your father knows the truth, I told him it all. After, I disappeared into this Hyrule to monitor the situation and act as a mentor to the Princess, I knew your father would keep you up to date on the Legends.

"I know this was cruel of us, but we needed you to be prepared for when the time came for you to visit Hyrule and put an end to Ganondorf. Once and for all."

* * *

"Lady Impax," said the Princess after a few moments of Impax finishing and staring sadly at the photo on the table. "I must ask, how did you travel from your realm to this one?"

"I used the Legends," she replied, going over to her collection of consoles below the TV. "Sheikah have always been at the call of the Goddess Hylia and her bloodline, She showed me how to use the Legends as portals to their time and Hyrules. It is how I let the Pestilence get to Zelda's mother, and how I brought Zelda to this world."

"That was you?" Zoelda asked, in shock after hearing the story of the Pestilence. "I thought it was Mum…"

"It was me impersonating your mother. I needed you to be here and I knew that was the best way for me to get you to come. I'm sorry if that also seems cruel."

 _I almost didn't come anyway,_ Zoelda thought to herself as she remembered her resistance at being pulled into this world, rubbing her bruised wrist as she did. There was still one thing that Impax had been dodging, a question she still needed an answer to: "Immy, what's my role in all this? What am I?"

"You mean aside from a beauty?" Came a voice from the doorway. The three all turned to look as Alarink as he walked into the room, plopping himself down in the arm chair at the head of the table with a grin, his hair and clothes still a little damp.

"Don't call me that, Alarink," Zoelda said, relieved to see again - it surprised her to realise that a small part of her had been worried about him and missing him all day.

"Ugh," the Princess scoffed, turning her nose up as she looked at him. "You're wet and you reek of fish."

"Well, what do you expect? You sent me to Zora's Domain, the place is full of water and fish people, it's impossible not to get wet or smell like them." He said simply as he got comfortable and helped himself to a handful sweets from the table. "I got Ralis' blessing by the way, we're all good on the Zora front. Fuck me, these sweets are good, Impax."

"No one's going to do that, Alarink." Said the Princess at the same time as Zoelda asked, "You know Immy?"

"Yes, I meet Link the same day that you arrived in Hyrule," Impax said with a smile, watching the Princess' disgust for the man grow.

"I presume that's no coincidence?" Zoelda asked, trying not to meet Alarink's eye as he smiled at her.

"No. Link also has a key role to play in this last Ganondorf fight, I wanted to be sure he was prepared and preparing for what will happen to him."

"Oh, I am." He said confidently, looking over at Impax with serious eyes. "I only have three things left to do, aside from getting Ganondorf, the Sword and the Twili blessing."

"That's six things, Alarink." Said the Princess.

"I said _aside from_ , Zeldy." Alarink snapped at her, not bothering to look her way and see her shocked face.

"And you are prepared for your fate?" Impax asked him, her gaze unwavering.

"... Yes."

"Then you have the blessing of the Sheikah to revive Ganondorf."

"Thank you, Impax." Alarink said, a sad smile ghosting his features.

"This is nice and all," Zoelda interrupted. "But would you mind telling me my part in all this? Who am I and why am I here?"

"Ooh, can I tell her?" Alarink asked, looking excited by the prospect.

"Yes, but be careful how you say things, Link." Impax said, watching him with a smile.

"Okay," Alarink turned to Zoelda, a serious look on his face that absolutely commanded her attention. "I'll start at the beginning:

* * *

"Shortly after the events that have come to be known as the Era of the Sword, the first Zelda settled down in what eventually became Hyrule. By her side, as always, was the first Link - the man who became her husband and lived his life on the Surface with her. Time passed as they explored the Surface and their friends from the Sky started to settle with them. Before too long, Zelda - Hylia reincarnate - fell pregnant to the first Hero's child.

"Or, should I say _children_?

"See, Zelda gave birth to twin daughters, thus diluting the Goddess' blood within them and creating a loophole to Demise's curse.

"Neither Link nor she knew this to begin with and they simply lived and loved their life with their family as if nothing could possibly go wrong. And, really, nothing did go wrong. There just came a time when one daughter had to be taken away from the world that would become Hyrule in order to create a way to take down Demise for good.

"So far as I know, just before the twins turned 16, a Sheikah woman visited Zelda. Her name has been lost to history, but I'd imagine it was Impa, or some variation - do you know what it was Impax? No? Okay then, moving on. I don't think anyone knows where possibly Impa came from, but she told Zelda of a way to stop Demise from ever gaining domination over the land. And since a part of Zelda was still Hylia, she was very excited by the prospect of protecting her people from Demise's influence.

"So, possibly Impa took one of the twins - a girl carrying the Goddess' blood and therefore tied to Demise's curse - to another realm, one that no one who comes from Hyrule has ever seen. Ever after, a Sheikah has been a guardian or friend of the daughters of the lost twin and the story of this twin was eventually forgotten in Hyrule, as a decree of her sister. I believe that the Royal family still knows the story, though whether they believe it or not is another matter.

"As for the lost twin's line, it appears that over time they have never forgotten Hyrule and have each been taught about it in a different way - some have had their Sheikah guardian take them to Hyrule, some have simply had the Legends presented to them. But, Impax tells me they have never forgotten who they are and what they will one day be forced to do.

"With the assistance of the other half of the Goddess' blood and one bearing the soul of the hero, the product of the line of the lost twin will help to end Demise's curse. They will help destroy his physical form - Ganondorf - once and for all."

* * *

"And the product of the line of the lost twin, as you put it," Zoelda said quietly, looking down at the harp necklace in her hands - she had pulled it out half way through the speech, remembering what her mother had told her about it being an old family heirloom - "is me?"

"Yes," Impax said quietly, looking at the harp too. "I understand that this is a heavy burden to bear. Your mother and I hoped that it wouldn't be you, that you wouldn't have to fulfil this old legacy. But then we saw your Triforce, so we began preparing you. That harp once belonged to Hylia's Zelda. It is the harp from the Sky era made small to be a constant reminder to the lost twin's line of where they come from."

"And where does the Triforce fit in to all of this?" Zoelda asked, looking at the mark on her hand as she put the harp away again. All this was making her head spin, a heavy legacy she wasn't sure she could live up to forced on her shoulders.

"Honestly?" Said Alarink, his arms crossed over his chest and brow furrowed. "No one really knows. Presumably the twin line got involved with some of Hyrule's history somewhere down the line and picked up half the Triforce of wisdom as a result, taking it back to their realm and passing it on to their daughter afterwards."

"Actually," Impax butted in, clearing her throat as she did. "The Zelda who took her Triforce shard didn't know about it until it appeared in her daughter. It was another accident of crossing realms during the Twilight era. And a sign that our Zelda is _the_ Zelda."

"Mum accidentally took some of the Triforce with her after visiting here?" Zoelda asked in shock, looking over at Alarink and noticing his equally shocked face.

"Yes. She was younger than you when she first visited here, she didn't know that meeting and shaking her distant cousin's hand caused the Triforce to split."

"Such an odd phenomenon," said the Princess, finally breaking her silence. "Mother could never explain why I only had one half of her Triforce, yet now there is a bizarre, yet plausible explanation."

"So…" Zoelda said as a pause descended over them all as they stared at their dominant hands and the Triforce embedded within, leaving Impax to watch with small amusement as they did. "Where does that leave us now? What are we meant to do from here and what am I meant to do to prepare?"

"Now," Alarink was smiling as he spoke again. "We make our way to Gerudo Desert and the Mirror of Twilight so we can gain the Twili's blessing, Ganondorf's body and the Master Sword."

"How will we get there?" Asked Zoelda.

"I've sent a message to Shad to get confirmation that he'll help us into the Desert, we need to meet him in Kakariko graveyard tonight to finalise a few details."

"Kakariko graveyard, at night?" The Princess said in disbelief. "That sounds like a _great_ idea, Alarink. I'm _so_ glad I left Shad to you."

"You know he wouldn't have done it for you, Princess, he's not exactly the biggest fan of you." She grunted in response, not meeting his eye as he attempted to get a rise from her. "Besides, I didn't choose the graveyard, he did. He's working on something in there, apparently, Goddess only knows what it is. Actually, we should probably leave now so that we don't get there too late."

"Um, Alarink?" Zoelda said as she got to her feet, smoothing her skirt down and trying not to trip on the table as they began to leave the house. "I actually meant how are we going to get to the Twilight Realm, what with the Mirror still being broken and all?"

After a moment of hesitation, he winked at her, "That's a secret."

"Oh good, I was hoping not to get a proper answer." Zoelda snapped as she crossed the doorway.

Impax chuckled behind her. "I'm glad to see you're still sarcastic, Zelda."

"It was good to see you too, Immy," Zoelda laughed, turning to hug her 'aunt' before they left the Village. It was almost dark now, the last rays of sunlight trying their hardest to light the whole world and settling on a dim glow of twilight. As she separated from Impax, she turned to see Alarink with his arms spread wide to hug the Princess, only to have her glare at and slap him for trying. "Promise me we'll see each other again, Immy."

"Of course, my girl," Impax replied without hesitation as she too watched Alarink and the Princess with a smile. "Keep an eye on him for me, he's not as well adjusted to this as he's pretending to be."

"What do you mean?" Asked she as she started to make her way to the other two, who were now walking back through the Village.

"He's been through a lot of crap here in Hyrule, and his role in this event is one he's had to come to terms with since he was a child. It hasn't been easy for him, so keep an eye on him, don't let him do anything foolish."

"Zoelda, you coming?" He called to her as she stood looking at Impax in confusion.

"Go, we'll meet again soon." The older woman waved as Zoelda ran after her companions, looking back over her shoulder every now and then to see her still stood there, watching as they left her in the forgotten Village.

* * *

 _AN:_

 _I just want to say this is the last chapter before the quality of writing starts to improve and shit starts to happen in the story, so thanks to everyone who's sticking with me. Also, hi to everyone new who's started reading over the holiday's, there's been a few more views recently so I hope you stick with it too._

 _Anyway, happy New Year. Let's make it a better one, because the gods know we need a better one._

 _~WWQ_


	9. 8 Kakariko Village

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _8\. Kakariko Village_

The three of them left the Village and mounted their horses in silence. After hearing the stories from Impax, a certain kind of resolution to see this to the end had settled itself in Zoelda's mind. And, as she looked at Alarink and the Princess riding just in front of her as they crossed the field, it seemed to have settled over them all.

A kinship seemed to have formed between them, one that distributed the weight of stopping Demise's curse between the three other Triforce bearers.

At about the halfway point between the Hidden Village and Kakariko, another horse came running towards them. With the sun having just set, it was very difficult to see the rider of the horse, so both Alarink and Zoelda drew their swords, pulling in front of the Princess to protect her at Alarink's gesture. The horse slowed as it got closer, soon giving view to Link in the saddle, looking very confused by the weapons pointing his way.

"Link!" The Princess exclaimed as she saw her knight, running her horse towards him as he stopped. "What are you doing here?"

The two exchanged a whispered conversation that neither Alarink nor Zoelda could hear from their position a little ways back. After watching for a few moments, Zoelda turned to Alarink and asked, "Why do they talk like that? Surely it would be easier to just let Link talk freely."

"Wouldn't it just," Alarink agreed, putting his sword away. "It's an odd rule that the Princess enforced on 'Link' after I arrived. To stop any arguments that Linky there wasn't the Hero reborn, she made him take an oath of silence and asked him to start dressing and behaving like the Heroes from Legend. She seemed to think that as long as he looked and acted the part of the Hero, people would think he was him."

"Did it work?" Zoelda asked as the Princess and Link began to wonder back to them.

"For the most part. Though, I'd imagine 'Link' isn't much of a fan of keeping quiet, the kid could swear for Hyrule when I first met him. Plus, he still gets called a fraud from time to time, and, while the overwhelming opinion of the Kingdom is against me being the Hero reborn, there are still some who support me. Although," Alarink lowered his voice so that the Princess couldn't hear his next, self-mocking words, "aren't there always some who support the perceived enemy?"

"Link has gotten the blessings of the Gorons to revive Ganondorf," said the Princess as they rejoined the other two. "All that's left now is to actually revive him."

"Well then, thank fuck we wasted five minutes standing still while you established what we already knew," Alarink snapped quite ungraciously with a large grin. "I'm sure that Shad will appreciate knowing that that was what held us up when we arrive late."

"No need for the sarcasm," the Princess shouted at him as they nudged their horses into a run again.

"No, perhaps not," Alarink shouted back over his shoulder - he and Zoelda were now running ahead of the Princess and Link, clearing the path of any monsters who tried their luck against them. "But I don't recommend we keep Shad waiting too much longer."

"How do you know Shad, anyway?" The Princess asked, obviously not enjoying the silence of the group as they rushed to Kakariko.

"I just do," answered Alarink cagily as they moved into single file down the narrow path into the village.

"Right…" Princess Zelda rolled her eyes. "Do you perhaps know why he doesn't like me? I tried to get in contact with him about climbing into Gerudo a while back and he refused."

"People can refuse you?" Zoelda asked, a little shocked; surely no one is allowed to refuse a request by royalty.

"Yes, it was very odd. Most people don't refuse the royal family, and those that do are often looked down on and treated poorly in public."

"But Shad can't be poorly treated or looked down on," Alarink said, not looking back at the two girls from his position at the front of the line. "Because of his status as a former Resistance member, a man who helped during the Twilight era and a Pestilence survivor, he's of a high enough status that no one dares look down on him. Plus, he's the only person who can work the lift into Gerudo Desert."

"How come he's the only one who can do that?" Zoelda asked, very confused now. She could only really remember Shad as the ginger man who helped Twilight Link find the cannon that lead him into the City in the Sky. He seemed to be a lot more than that now.

"He created the lift himself shortly after everything settled down twenty years ago. No one other than him knows how it works currently, though he's been teaching me recently and Father knew how."

"And that's how you know him?" Asked the Princess, her eyes deep in thought as they walked into Kakariko. Lamps were lit here and there along the street and in the front of buildings to guide the way in the dark. There was no one in the street anymore, though there hadn't been many people around even when it was light. "Is that also why he doesn't like me, because he likes you?"

"It doesn't work like that, Zeldy," Alarink said as he dismounted at the entrance to the Eld Inn, leading Malanya and Rogue into the stable for the night, with Link following behind him with the other two horses. "But yes, he doesn't like you because he liked my Father and me."

A few moments later they started off in silence and on foot to the graveyard, pausing only briefly as Alarink stole a lantern from in front of the graveyard entrance.

The graveyard itself was the same as all others, a dark and faintly scary place that seemed to have an atmosphere of its own, one heavy enough with death and a fear of it that lead Link, Zoelda and the Princess to huddle together as they followed closely behind Alarink. The brunet seemed to have no fear of being in a graveyard at night, and rather seemed to enjoy himself as he hummed his way to where a lone figure stood before a huge monument.

As they approached the figure and monument, Zoelda noticed that a curious candle was burning in front of the marble base. It was made in such a way that it would burn for perhaps a week before all the wax melted, yet it was also in a contraption that caught the wax from the candle to make a second candle beneath it. It was encased in glass, so the fire couldn't go out, and it seemed as though it was being fed a wick through the second candle. Zoelda stared at it for a while as Alarink whispered pleasantries and the like in his usual manner to the new man. Finally, her brain could only come to one conclusion, this candle was rigged in such a way that it would never stop burning, not by any means.

Wondering why this candle had been made so specially, Zoelda looked up at the monument and who it honoured. Her eyes widened as she understood. In the wide marble base of the monument, the names of many had been etched. There were enough names to make the font very small, yet some names were slightly bigger than others, those were the names Zoelda recognised.

Impaz. Malo. Rusl. Telma. Renado. Agatha. Darbus. Ilia. So many, _too_ many more were written plainly in the surface of the marble.

Slowly, Zoelda looked up at the rest of the monument. At her chin - at about the height of the average Hylian's eyes - read the words: "The Pestilence will never be forgotten."

Above that, at the top of the monument - still clearly illuminated despite the dark thanks to more of the odd candles - stood three statues of three people who hadn't been named in the engravings. Princess Midna stood to the left, her hands clasped together at her chest and her eyes closed, almost as though she was praying. Princess Zelda stood to the right, her eyes open and hands spread in front of her, as though she was welcoming the populous towards her one last time. And in the centre stood Link, his shield on his back and the Master Sword in both his hands, it's point thrust into the surface of the monument. Link stood in a calm stance, his eyes open but empty, his face smiling gently down on any who looked up at him.

Knowing that he was the cause of the Pestilence, Zoelda found the statue of Link somewhat offensive. She suspected her feelings towards Alarink's father in that moment to be quite similar to the feelings most of the population Hyrule held for him after meeting Alarink, the bastard baby of an affair.

"Actually," Alarink was saying in an amused yet hushed voice to the man next to him. "I came to the graveyard at night to find out what you were working on, not whether or not you can help us."

"If it wasn't for your sarcasm, I'd be more than thrilled to tell you, my boy." The man said in a similar amused but hushed tone to Alarink's. Finally getting a look at him, Zoelda noticed that he hadn't changed all that much over the score of years.

Shad stood at about Alarink's shoulder - making him a little shorter than the Princess, though Zoelda suspected that was only because of her heels - and was dressed in a similar get up to what he wore all the years ago, though now his purple jacket reached his wrists, its collar lay flat and he wore long boots to cover his shins instead of the odd socks he'd worn before. He was still strikingly ginger, though he was marked here and there with silver shots and his face was beginning to show his age. Despite all this, his eyes were still very young and bright behind his glasses, burning with a passion to tell Alarink all about his latest invention.

"Oh, I'm _dying_ to know what you've been doing out here for the last few weeks." Alarink smiled at him. Noting the way that he spoke and stood with Shad, Zoelda suspected that Shad had known Alarink a lot longer that Colin did, a fact that made her both confused and intrigued. If Colin had known Alarink since he moved to Hyrule, and Shad had known him seemingly longer than that, he would have had to have known the brunet before he arrived in Hyrule. Suddenly, Zoelda realised she had never asked Alarink where he had lived before his father had died.

"Alarink, don't make _dy_ ing jokes." The Princess said firmly, but her voice crack gave away how nervous she was in the graveyard.

"Well, if you're going to insist, it would be rude of me not to tell you about my newest creation…" Shad smiled, carrying on as though the Princess had never spoken, suddenly gesturing at the odd candle at the base of the monument. "Behold! This candle has been my focus for the last few weeks. You see, my boy, I had read about candles that collected the melted wax to create a second candle, but I wanted to take it a step further. SO, I experimented for a bit, and have now created the infinite candle. These candles can never be blown out, due to the glass; can never run out of wax, thanks to the wax collection; and as long as the wick is changed yearly, can never burn out. It's an extraordinary invention that will allow the Pestilence monument to be forever lit and those affected by it will be forever illuminated and not forgotten. Marvellous, isn't it, my boy?"

"It is indeed," Alarink said, looking up at the three illuminating that statues and smiling a little sadly. "But, while you were at it, couldn't you have taken down the Midna statue? She's not dead, you know that."

"I do, but taking it down would deface the property and I don't think the populous would forgive me if I did that, not with how I speak to her Highness here."

"No. No one would forgive you if you defaced the Pestilence monument," confirmed the Princess in a firm voice that didn't shake this time. "And Princess Midna is dead, there's no one trustworthy who can claim they know for sure if she's alive."

"So, myself, Shad and the Zora King Ralis aren't trustworthy enough for you?" Alarink asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"The only one who can say for sure she's alive out of the three of you, is you, Alarink. You told the other two about her Highness being alive, and they choose to believe you. I do not, because you are not trustworthy."

"Given his credentials, your Highness," Shad said, his eyes confused and a little angry. "I should think Link's word that Queen Midna is still alive is enough."

"Let it lie, Shad," Alarink said as he saw Zoelda's eyes widen at how he had called her Queen Midna, not Princess. Subconsciously, her mind was piecing together all the information of the day together in a way that not only made sense, but seemed plausible, but consciously, she was too tired and hungry to give it much thought. She really wanted to get out of the graveyard, eat some dinner then collapse in a hotel bed for the night and start thinking again in the morning.

"Oh, and who is this girl?" Shad asked, suddenly noticing Zoelda for the first time as Alarink continued to meet her eye with his own.

"This is Zelda, code name Zoelda," he answered smiling again, a smile that turned his whole posture from a cross armed challenge to the posture of a guy introducing his newest conquest. Zoelda wasn't quite sure which posture she preferred. "She's the latest in the twin line and the reason I've asked to see you so late at night."

"I'll head to Lake Hylia immediately," Shad said, instantly seeming to understand the situation, his eyes meeting Zoelda's and face serious, making him look much older.

"We'll meet you there some time tomorrow afternoon," Alarink said, turning back to face Shad completely, though the older man couldn't seem to take his eyes of Zoelda.

"Of course," Shad absently replied, picking up the few things he had scattered on the floor.

Holding them to his chest, he began to walk through the group back to the entrance of the graveyard. In his haste, he dropped his book next to Zoelda. As she picked it up and gave it back, he lent in to give his thanks and whispered, "If you act as much like your mother as you look, we can all rest easy knowing Ganondorf is as good as dead."

After that, Shad hurried out of the graveyard on his way to Lake Hylia, leaving the four of them alone again and Zoelda confused once again.

"... Right, well, shall we head to the Eld Inn for dinner?" Alarink asked after a pause.

"Yes!" The Princess responded immediately, clearly happy to be getting out of the graveyard as she took the lantern and lead the way with Link by her side.

Both Zoelda and Alarink hung back for a moment to look at the Pestilence memorial one more time before they exchanged a glance and started after the others.

* * *

It was relatively late when they finally arrived at the Inn for dinner. They were the only ones at the tables when they're meal was served - a similar selection of food as their lunch had been, not that anyone seemed to mind - and the Goron who served them seemed a little surly about having to be up and cooking even after the kitchen had closed for the night. That attitude quickly changed when he realised he was waiting on the Princess, he was almost unbearably polite after he served them, apologising frequently as he walked away and left them to eat.

"Doesn't that get on your nerves?" Alarink asked the Princess, pointing with his wine glass in the direction of the kitchen that the Goron had retreated into.

"No, not really," Zelda answered as she started to eat, seemingly unfazed by how the Goron's attitude changed. "Why? Does it get on yours?"

"Yes, a great deal. Why do you think I'm drinking?" Alarink responded slightly sardonically as he took another sip of his wine before he started eating.

"I didn't really think you needed a reason to act like a bum." The Princess responded, not looking up from her plate, but a clear desire for an argument in her tone. Zoelda was beginning to suspect that the Princess was always looking for an argument when Alarink was involved.

"It's not bad manners to drink at a meal, Zeldy. You're doing it too, after all." Alarink's tone was very calm, one that was obviously well considered to make the Princess even angrier.

Worried that the impending argument would wake the whole Inn, Zoelda decided to interrupt just as she noticed the other girl's eyes flash with anger. "So, what's the plan for tomorrow? I'm a little unclear at the moment."

"We'll leave here as early as they'll allow us to and head straight to Lake Hylia. Shad should be waiting for us before the Desert Province plateau wall and will take us up to the desert using his lift. By the time we get to the desert, it'll likely be dark again, so we'll set ourselves up for the night in a little inlet I know and head off to Arbiters the day after." Alarink listed out the plan in the same tone he used before, not looking up until the very end, smiling as he asked, "That is, as long as that plan is acceptable with you, Zeldy Dear?"

Glaring at him, the Princess turned slightly in her chair and raised her voice to call for the Goron at the front desk. "Pardon me, Master Deru, when is the earliest we can check out tomorrow morning?"

"Breakfast is served as early as the crack of dawn, so perhaps half an hour afterwards, your Highness. I'm sorry our service hasn't been warm enough to permit a longer stay." Answered Deru rather sadly despite his politeness.

"Ah, no, your hospitality is more than _some_ of us deserve," Zelda glared contemptuously at Alarink as he smiled into his wine glass. "However, we are on an urgent mission and all haste must be made to allow for its swift completion." Deru seemed to perk up a little after hearing that.

"Swift completion, eh?" Mumbled Alarink suggestively into his glass, eyeing the Princess as he did.

"Princess, don't-" Zoelda started to warn the blonde not to retort, just a little too late.

"Oh? Is that a phrase you're used to hearing, Alarink?" She asked, her grin wicked as she stared at Alarink. "Perhaps from your dissatisfied lovers?"

A second passed, in which the Princess seemed to congratulate herself for such an impressive insult, then Alarink began laughing uproariously and Zoelda buried her head in her hands with embarrassment and annoyance that they were arguing like children again.

"Wow, what an insult you had there, Princess!" Said he between laughs as the Goron chef came back to collect their plates. "My goodman, did you hear how her Highness just insulted me? 'Twas the stuff the Legends are made of!"

"I'm sorry," he apologised, looking slightly shocked at the way Alarink was gripping his arm. "I'm afraid I missed that. Was it truly as impressive as he says, your Highness?"

Zelda glared at the still laughing Alarink and sighed, "No, I fear that Alarink is simply mocking me. I suggest you leave now, goodman, your service and food has been excellent, but I'd rather you didn't remain long enough to allow our philanderer here to start flirting with you."

"Oh, there's no need to worry about that, Princess," said Alarink slightly giddily. If Zoelda didn't know - or at the very least suspect - that this was all some ploy to make the Princess snap at him, she would have thought it was the wine getting to him. "I have no idea how Gorons have sex, and while I'm sure it's pleasuring, I don't really have any desire to find out. My apologies that I don't consider you fuckable, my goodman."

"No need to apologise," the chef muttered, his expression profoundly uncomfortable.

"Do the Princess and Alarink always go out of their way to agitate each other this much?" Zoelda whispered to Link, watching as the blonde girl started to draw herself up again. Link's response was an eyeroll that seemed to say, _'you haven't seen anything yet'_.

"I apologise for Alarink, goodman, we are truly humbled by your service," the Princess said as the Goron picked up the last of the plates and started back to the kitchen.

"And I am humbled by your presence, your Highness." He mumbled in response, still seeming enormously uncomfortable as the doors to the kitchen closed behind him.

"Seriously, Princess, just between the four of us," Alarink looked around the small table at the rest of them, his eyes slightly wild as he did. "Can you honestly say that all this royal pampering and whatnot doesn't get on your nerves? Because of your status, you can never see the true side of people, only the respectable side they show to royalty. Doesn't that bother you at all? Knowing that your people are too afraid of you to show how they truly feel?"

"Did it bother you?" The Princess asked, seeming not to think before she did as she seemed as surprised as the rest of them.

"What?" Alarink asked flatly, all signs of his apparent drunkenness gone as he stared at her.

"The way commoners treat royalty; did it bother you?" Princess Zelda asked him, her gaze steady. It appeared, at least to Zoelda who had no idea what the Princess was insinuating, that she might have gained the upper hand in the growing argument somehow.

"What do you mean by 'did it bother me'? It _does_ bother me, if that's what you're asking." The brunet was suddenly sat very still and tall, his eyes flickering between the two girls as he did.

"No, I'm asking _did_ it bother you," slowly the Princess lent over to touch his hand, her eyes boring into him as she did, flicking over to Zoelda once before saying, "You know, when _you_ were a member of the royal family?"

"What?" Zoelda asked, looking from Alarink to the Princess and back again before looking over at Link, only to see he was as shocked as she was.

"The Bastard Prince," Zelda practically purred as she stared down Alarink. "How did you feel when people treated you differently because of that title, Link?"

"I think it's time we go to bed." He said, standing up suddenly, almost knocking the chair down behind him as he did - an act of very uncharacteristic ungracefulness.

"And who will be accompanying you tonight?" The Princess called after him as he started up the stairs towards the beds.

"No one. I think we could all use a full night's sleep tonight."

"Very well, but before you go: who would you say won this round?"

"You did, now goodnight." Alarink stomped the last few steps as the Princess turned to Link and highfived him.

Once again, Zoelda was more confused at the end of the day than when it started, even despite all the answers she'd gained from Impax. She followed behind the Princess and Link as they showed her to her room for the night and then made their way to their own, talking quietly among themselves as they walked down the hall. The room she'd been given was small and uncrowded, with a small bathroom to the left of the door that featured a bath full of slightly dusty cold water.

After a few moments contemplation, Zoelda decided to brave the cold, dusty water for only a few seconds before changing into the Inn provided bathrobe - that was obviously too small for her - she was beginning to suspect that everything in Hyrule was doomed to be too small for her. As she made her way to the bed, she realised she had no clothes to sleep in for the night and began to contemplate whether or not just to say screw it and go to sleep in the bathrobe. Shaking her head at herself, she put her boots on and made her way quietly down the stairs and out to the stables, conscious that her clicking heels had the potential to wake everyone up as she went.

The moon was full and very high above the town as she emerged from the Inn into the surprisingly cold night. Pulling her bathrobe closer about herself, she turned towards the stables and stopped suddenly as she noticed a figure moving just a few feet from her. As the figure moved out from the shadows of the stable and into the moonlight, Zoelda realised that the figure was a tall man, and one she knew well, at that.

Hidden among the shadows of the Inn doorway, Zoelda watched as Alarink made his way to the Eldin spring, his movements sneaky as though he didn't want to be caught going there in the middle of the night. The thing that most caught her eye about him, and the thing that made her hold her tongue instead of calling out to him, was how he was dressed. He wore a dark hooded cloak that reached his knees at the front yet trailed behind his ankles at the back, closed over his torso and waist by a length of rope that obviously didn't come with the cloak.

Everything about him made Zoelda's mind scream that something was wrong, or at the very least, very different about the Alarink she knew and the one that walked away from her. Regardless of what her mind was telling her, Zoelda stood shaking in the door way until she was sure she could go back inside without catching his attention - getting a change of clothes was no longer a possibility, what if he saw her in the stables as he came back?

As she turned to go back inside, watching Alarink leave her field of vision as she did, she could have sworn she saw a slight blueish cast to his skin under the cold, brilliant moonlight…

* * *

 _AN:_

 _Okay, first off, thanks to the guest known as James Birdsong for reviewing, you're my favourite._

 _Anyway, as previously mentioned this is where things start to pick up in quality and the story starts to gain momentum, so, if you've stuck with it this far allow me to tell you it only gets better from here._

 _Otherwise, have a good week all of you - we're now sitting at a high of 10 people per chapter again, so I hope the new readers or those who picked it up over the holidays stay with me!_

 _Also, why not tell me what you think? Little review or Twitter comment? I don't expect anything, but I'm going to keep pushing for people to tell me what they think because that's kinda the only way I can improve._

 _So, have a nice week again._

 _~WWQ_


	10. 9 Gerudo Frontier

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _9\. Gerudo Frontier_

"Zo! Wake up! Zeldy wants you to get your arse in gear!" Alarink knocked and called through Zoelda's door just before dawn the next morning. Grumbling as she pulled herself into a sitting position, Zoelda glared in the direction of the door; it was far too early in the morning for this kind of shit.

"Oh, sorry to wake you sir. … Yes, I know it's early, but my friend needs to get up so we can leave and I'm not going to stop knocking on her door until she does!" Alarink seemed to be talking to someone else outside the door now, keeping his voice loud enough that Zoelda could hear his complaints. "I know, it _is_ very odd that she would chose to sleep in a separate room to me, it's rather rare for me to be turned down. Who can say how the female mind works, though?"

"Alright, I'm getting up," Zoelda called angrily through the door a she got out of bed and began changing into her weird armour.

"Ah! You are alive in there after all, Zo! I was beginning to worry that I'd have to travel with the Princess and Link on my own. A terrifying thought, I know."

"Alarink, could you just shut up for a minute?" Asked she a little snappily as she finished changing and organising herself. While the last two nights she'd spent in Hyrule had been nightmare filled and seemed to drain her energy rather than give her more; last night she'd finally had a good night sleep without the lingering presence of Demise and she rather wanted to go back to it.

"It's unlike you to tell me to shut up, Zoelda," Alarink gasped behind the door, actually sounding a little concerned. "Rough night sleep?"

"No, the opposite. I didn't want to be woken up."

"Huh. Well, if you act like this when you get a good night sleep, I'd much rather you didn't have another one."

"What a horrible thing to say," she called angrily at him as she slipped the band into her hair and opened the door. As she had somewhat suspected him to be, Alarink was leaning with his shoulder to the wall beside her door, his arms crossed over his chest causing his small tunic to ride up with no weapons belts to hold it down - they'd left their weapons and belts with the horses the night before. If it wasn't for the fact that Alarink was a brunet and smiling that damned grin of his, Zoelda could have easily mistaken him for Danny.

She shuddered as Alarink looked her up and down, as she thought of Danny back home, probably leaning like that outside her dorm room waiting for her to come out for lunch and accidentally run into him. Danny and Alarink were as unalike as, well, the UK and Hyrule, and yet she couldn't help but think of her clingy wannabe boyfriend back home as the kingdom's flirt looked her up and down in Hyrule. "You know, that dress really doesn't fit you."

"It's the exact same dress I wore yesterday, Alarink," Zoelda muttered in a slightly disgusted tone as she and Alarink set off down the hall to the stairs.

"Have I offended you this morning?" Asked he as the sound of heels clicking on the floor became irritating. "If it's just about getting up early, that's entirely Zelda's fault, otherwise I'd apologise."

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. It was something only Alarink would say and brought her back to her new reality with these odd people in what had once been a fictitious world. Suddenly, Danny was the furthest thing from her mind again as they started down the stairs.

"No, you haven't offended me," Zoelda said quietly as they approached the table where Link and the Princess sat. "You just briefly reminded me of a guy I know back home, one I want to forget."

"Boyfriend?" Alarink asked curiously as he held the chair opposite the Princess out for her.

"He wishes." Chuckled she as she took her seat and watched Alarink take his next to her with a raised eyebrow and surprised, yet pleased, expression.

" _So_ glad the two of you could _finally_ join us," Princess Zelda's tone oozed with as much sarcasm as the toast did butter as they began to eat.

"Oh, fuck off, Princess." Alarink mumbled. "A few lost minutes aren't going to matter much in the long run."

"Is that what you say when you spend the night with someone?" The blonde retorted, seemingly intending to start arguing already. "Where _did_ you go off to last night anyway? I saw you sneaking back into your room early this morning."

"That's none of your business." He answered, causing Zoelda to remember seeing him cloaked, walking off to the Spring of Eldin at midnight. Prudently, she decided not to ask what that had been about at the breakfast table, there would be plenty of time to ask him alone later if she really wanted to.

"Hmph," the Princess pushed her finished plate away and rose, clearly showing she was done with breakfast, so the others should be too. Link quickly rose to his feet too, following after the Princess as she went to speak to Deru behind the counter about when they could leave. Both Alarink and Zoelda watched the blondes move without much interest as they continued to eat.

"Hurry up!" The Princess stomped at the doorway. "We don't have forever!"

"Of course we don't," Alarink said quite calmly as he rose, grabbing the two last pieces of toast as he did, forcing Zoelda to stand too as she stared angrily at his back, cursing herself for not being fast enough to grab one of the slices.

"Shall ve?" He asked as he held a slice in his teeth, freeing a hand up to hold the Inn door open for the group to file through. Pouting a little, Zoelda was given the last slice of toast as she walked through the door. Looking back at Alarink, she saw him wink at her as he closed the door behind him, the other piece of toast still between his teeth.

The toast exchange played on her mind as they left the Village. It was such a simple thing, and yet Zoelda couldn't help but feel profoundly uncomfortable by it. Quite suddenly, as she mounted Rogue again and they set out in the direction of Kakariko Gorge, she realised that the whole toast exchange had been an odd way for Alarink to flirt with her. Staring at his back as she rode behind him in single file, she couldn't help but wonder why he had started flirting with her again. In fact, if she hadn't had heard the hate in the Princess' voice yesterday as she spoke about Alarink, Zoelda might have suspected that the two of them were more interested in each other than he was with her.

The whole exchange was put far from her mind as they crossed the gorge. Unlike the day before, which had passed mostly without incident, today there were many monsters out and about. Alarink and Zoelda took most of them, him using his short sword and her with her bow, with Link taking any that got too close to the Princess. By the time they started crossing the path into South Hyrule field, Zoelda was sweating.

"There are so many more of them than before." She muttered as she readied her bow again.

"It's because you aren't swearing at them as you kill them," Alarink replied with a smile, wiping a smudge of monster blood of his cheek as he did. "Tell them what shitty motherfuckers they are."

"You seem to be doing enough of that for all of us."

"Just making up for Link not being able to." He replied modestly as she shot down a kargarok swooping in for them from the field, he began shouting profanities at it as he ran down the carcass.

They ran straight from Kakariko to Lake Hylia - an act that took until early afternoon at an all-out gallop - where they took a small lunch next to the Great Bridge. After eating, Alarink showed them the path that lead down to the lakeside near the desert wall, telling them they would need to lead their horses down it.

As they lead their horses down a newly constructed wooden path - that, as far as Zoelda could tell, passed through the old hanging cottage that used to be there twenty years before - to the Desert Plateau wall at the south, Alarink started humming the Song of the Hero. As soon as the Princess scoffed at him, Zoelda defiantly joined in, earning a surprised grin from Alarink as she did. As the humming reached a crescendo, a third humming joined in and everyone was surprised to see Link shrug as they finished their little impromptu song.

"Really, Link?" The Princess asked as they reached the bottom of the path and the lakeside. "Really?"

Link smiled at her with a tilt of the head, a little action that made Zoelda like him a whole lot more.

The sun was beginning to make its way to the western horizon once again as they approached the Desert Province wall. Zoelda seemed to recall being told that there used to be a path up to the Desert many years before that had been made inaccessible after the prison at Arbiter's Grounds had been established, and closed off completely after Ganondorf had been incarcerated. Looking around for any sign of the path to no avail, she sighed and turned her attention back to the wall and the system of pulleys and strings attached to a rickety looking container that was likely the lift to the desert. Looking at the height of the wall, Zoelda thought she'd rather try her luck at scaling it by hand than go up via the odd lift.

Much to her dismay, Alarink lead them over to the unsafe looking contraption and the man knelt before it, performing some kind of maintenance. "Shad! Sorry we're a little late, checkout was later than we thought it would be."

"Oh, don't worry about that, my boy." Shad said, turning around to look at the group, squinting a little as he did. "I've spent most of the day working on the old machine, but I don't think it's going to be sturdy enough to take all of you over at once."

"No preamble today?" Alarink asked, a little surprised. "That's unlike you, my friend, is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes, everything's fine." The ginger man stood up a little shakily, very obviously trying not to meet Zoelda's eye as he looked them all over again. "Why don't you all follow me? I've got a little stable set up for your horses, I'd imagine you're going to be gone for a while, so I'll stay here to take care of them."

"Thank you." Said the Princess as they walked their horses over to a little stable shack set up a little ways from the wall. As Alarink took Rogue from her, Zoleda spent some time looking around the lake, noticing that, while the general landscape of the lake remained unchanged, the man-made structures had changed. There was no longer a house or any structure at all in the centre of the lake and, while the canon to the city in the sky was still there on the centre island, it was pitted in rust and covered in moss. They appeared to be on the westmost island in the south, only a short, vertical walk away from the desert, and Zoelda suspected she'd be able to see all the way to Arbiter's Grounds if she stood on top of the tower in the centre of the island.

"Zelda?" Someone whispered next to her, causing her to jump slightly as she turned, expecting to see Alarink grinning at making her jump. Instead, she was surprised to see Shad looking up at her. "May I borrow you a moment?"

"Um, okay?" Zoelda said, following Shad back over to his lift contraption.

"How are you feeling about your part in this?" He asked her, making himself look busy with the machine as he did.

"I, um, I don't know?" She stuttered, looking back over her shoulder at the others, who were still busy with the horses. For some reason, she felt as though the ginger man was trying to lead her towards something, though she couldn't for the life of her figure out what it could be. So, she decided to ask outright. "Um, Shad, I don't know why you've asked to speak to me alone, but something is clearly bothering you, can I help you with it?"

Looking back at her, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses, he smiled slightly. "You really are a great deal like your mother."

"You knew her?" Zoelda asked instead of noticing how he had dodged her question.

"Not well, but well enough to see the resemblance between the two of you goes a lot deeper than just appearances." He squinted a little as he looked at her properly for the first time. "The two of you are truly two of the most interesting Hylians I've ever met. To an unknowing eye, you look a lot like a human, but looking closer… You can see a resemblance of Hylia. There's even still similarities between you and the Princesses, how intriguing!"

"Shad," said Zoelda as she noticed the others beginning to come back over. "I hate to rush you, but…"

"Oh, yes, my point is," he said, his eyes going wide as though he was just remembering that his conversation had a purpose. "You are very similar to your mother. But, despite the fact that she came from Hyrule, and loved being here when she was, she was afraid of our Kingdom. The presence of Demise and his curse lingers heavy here, and it was too much for your mother to bear at times. But you, Zelda…" Quite suddenly, he took her by the shoulders. "You are our chance to break free from Ganondorf. Demise and his curse may never be escapable, but we can escape his human form. So, I'm asking you, Zelda: Are you afraid of Hyrule?"

The question struck her harder than she thought it would. In a very real - though virtual - way, she had grown up half in Hyrule and its legends, and she was undeniably drawn to it and everything it had to offer, the good and the bad. But, she was afraid of the prospect of facing Ganondorf, of what her future in Hyrule would bring and of the possibility of failing and dooming the Kingdom to more of the same curse.

However…

"No. If you're asking if I'm afraid of what will happen to me in Hyrule, I can't say for definite that I'm not afraid - but then, who could?" Shad's face fell a little as he heard her say that, and his grip on her shoulders loosened a little. "However, I'm invested to see it through now. And I could never be afraid of Hyrule itself, I'm too inspired by it, _drawn to it_ to be that."

Faster than she could stop him, Shad pulled her in for a fierce hug. "May the Goddesses be with you, our lost princess." Whispered he as she laughed a little - a nervous, stunned but ultimately happy laugh. Despite her laughter and her relief to finally tell someone what she thought of Hyrule, there was a part of her - or rather of her mind - that seemed distressed by her lack of fear. She had barely registered the feeling before it was gone, making her wonder if it was just some passing nerves at being hugged.

"We wondered why the two of you had gone off alone," Alarink said, coming back over from the horses carrying two canvas bags and her Docs. "Shall we come back later?"

"No, no," Shad separated himself from Zoelda and pushed his glasses up, conspicuously wiping his eyes as he did. "I think it's time for me to send you on your way now."

"Yeah," the brunet squinted as he looked over the ridge into the desert and the low sun. "We'll want to leave before it gets any darker. Oh, but before we do, these are yours."

Alarink handed Zoelda one of the canvas bags and her Docs, leading her to look up at him a little confusedly as she took them. "We all need to carry provisions, we won't get far otherwise. And you won't get anywhere in those shoes."

Looking at her silly little heels, Zoelda had to agree that she probably wouldn't get very far in the desert with them, and was just about to ask why she wouldn't wear Ilia's old boots instead of her conspicuous Docs when she noticed the Princess wearing them. Sighing at herself, she changed her boots, wondering where she should now put her heels.

"I'll take them for you," the Princess said rather courteously. "I can put them away while you and Alarink go into the desert."

"Wait, we're going first?" Zoelda turned to look at the contraption again, suppressing a shudder as she did.

"Well, you could go with 'Link', if you like," Alarink smiled, walking over to the lift and jumping in. "But, I didn't think you'd want to. Plus, I'm going first since I'm the only one who's been to the desert before, hence the only one who knows what they're doing."

There was a part of her that feared going into the desert simply because the method of transportation looked as though it wouldn't last the journey, but there was another part of her that didn't want to go into Gerudo because that's where Ganondorf was and that's where everything evil was in her mind. For the life of her, she just couldn't seem to escape the feeling that something big was going to happen in Gerudo, some kind of revelation that she wasn't sure she was prepared for.

Regardless of how she felt about going into Gerudo, she knew it was necessary. So, her feet dragging a little as she walked, Zoelda approached the two-foot square cuboid that acted as the lift of the contraption. She hesitated a little before taking Alarink's hand - causing their Triforces to flash again as their hands touched - and stepping up into it, standing a little too close for her liking opposite him.

"Hello." Alarink lent around her to close the door on the lift, a waist high bar being the only thing on all sides that would stop them falling out.

"Don't worry," Shad said to her, seeming to note her slightly nauseous expression as he walked over to the lever that worked the lifts pulleys. "This is perfectly safe. Alarink can tell you that much himself."

"I'm not entirely sure I trust Alarink's judgement." Muttered Zoelda to herself as she hugged her arms around her.

"Rude." The brunet said as he lent back against the bars, causing the lift to shift a little under his weight.

"It's perfectly safe." Shad repeated, looking a little nervously at the way it had shifted. "I'll see you again in a few days, be safe in the desert, won't you? Oh, and let me know what happens." Quickly, he leant over to fully secure the door and covertly whispered to Zoelda: "Keep an eye on him for me, would you?"

And then they were off. With one pull of the lever, the lift contraption went upwards over the rise on a track and wheels before plummeting back down again on the Desert side, travelling at a speed no lift should ever travel at. As it started down the other side, Zoelda was knocked from her spot with the velocity of it, falling straight into Alarink's chest as she tried to find some kind of grip or support.

"Probably should've told you to hold onto something," he remarked as he helped her back to her feet, her hair falling over down turned face. "You okay?"

Holding onto the bar behind her for support, she kept her face down as she tried to steady her breathing. It was like being on the world's worst roller coaster, and Zoelda had never much cared for roller coasters in the first place. But there was more to it than that, as soon as they had crossed onto the sand, a kind of crushing presence had settled itself at the front of Zoelda's brain, like an intense migraine. The combination of motion sickness and migraine pressure had set her completely off balance to the point where she couldn't think.

"Zo?" The lift was starting to slow to a stop as she felt Alarink's hand on her shoulder, attempting to get some sort of response out of her. "Zelda? Can you hear me?"

The lift quite suddenly spun 180º as it reached a stop, turning the door to face the sand as Alarink moved his other hand to unlatch it. The spin had done nothing good to Zoelda's migraine and seemed to help make her feel ten times worse, her vision turning an odd purple as Alarink helped her out of the lift, still trying to meet her eye.

"Zo, it's okay now, you're off now," he was speaking slowly and comfortingly, but it was setting her even more on edge as her legs tried to accustom themselves to the flat, though shifting sand, land once again. She seemed to hear him through a glass, the sounds coming out much more garbled than they should have been. "Zoelda, look at me."

Forced up by his hand on her chin, she looked at him with dazed eyes, barely processing the look of intense worry on his face as she noticed a purple sandstorm brewing behind him. Her brain seemed to thump as she looked up, so she closed her eyes, attempting to turn her face back down again only to have Alarink's hand stopping her.

"Zelda, it's okay. The first ride is always the hardest, it'll be easier next time." His grip on her chin would not loosen as she struggled against it. "Zo, look at me. Talk to me."

Looking up at him again, her vision blurry and purple, she saw a creature jump out of the sand, it's cross-like jaws open to maul. "Link, fuck!" She managed to stammer, pointing at the Moldorm behind his shoulder.

"What?" He turned quickly, his hand already going to his hidden short sword. "Oh, shit-!"

With his right hand, he grabbed the Moldorm in mid-air, flinging his sword out of its sheath with his left and slicing it right down the middle, still squirming in his hand. Dropping it to the floor, it's body half cut through like some kind of dismembered fish, he turned back to Zoelda to find her lying on her side in the sand, her eyes not entirely focused on the dead Moldorm.

"Take that, you fucker…" she mumbled, laughing as she watched the sand clouds come closer, bringing with them a fine, hazy purple sand that began to coat her immediately.

Alarink knelt beside her as the lift came back, bringing with it Link and the Princess - both of whom looked slightly nauseous, but certainly nowhere near as bad as Zoelda, who was now tracing patterns in the purple air before her. Her eyes were entirely unfocused and her head was pounding, causing the purple haze to practically oppress her as it pressed on her head.

"Well, that wasn't fun," she heard the Princess say from much further away than she was. "And it's sand storming, what a great fun this'll be!"

"Princess, don't complain, not now." Alarink snapped, his words distorted and his face obscured by the sand and purple haze. Weirdly, to Zoelda, the combination seemed to make his skin look blue as she reached for it, only to stop halfway to look at her hand, and how much longer it was than she remembered it being. Alarink watched her actions with a worried expression, trying to gauge what was wrong with her at a glance. "Get me water and a cloak, now."

"You don't command me," said the Princess rather snappily, though it sounded like a garbled duck talking to Zoelda. Slowly blinking as she looked back up, she saw the Princess in her field of vision as well, her face contorted and angry under the purple sand haze when it was actually profoundly worried. "Link, get water and a cloak, and please be quick."

A few moments later, Zoelda felt a heavy weight on her shoulders as Link put a cloak around her. She jumped in surprise and shook it off - an impressive feat considering she was already half buried in sand - she didn't need a cloak, she felt as though she was burning up, not as though she was lying in a desert sandstorm at night.

"Not that cloak, you idiot." Alarink screamed, his voice very shrill and piercing when really it was quiet and chiding. Pushing herself up - noticing her arms were half buried in sand as she did - Zoelda tried to push herself away from them, suddenly very afraid of them and what they could do to her.

Quite suddenly, as she saw Alarink reach towards her, she realised that this was no bout of sickness, this was an external force messing with her brain. As soon as she figured that out, she realised that she was being played by Ganondorf, the purple haze could be no other than his doing as he attempted to gain control over the one who posed the most threat to him.

The idea of posing a threat to him seemed to excite Zoelda's brain back into action, and make Ganondorf's control on her weaken. She pushed Alarink's hand away as she stood, not watching as he also stood and the three others watched her through the growing sandstorm and dimming light.

"Zoelda?" Alarink called to her through the storm, shielding his eyes with one hand as he reached out the other for her. In the part of her mind being controlled by Ganondorf, she seemed to sense an intense joy at seeing Alarink. No, an intense joy at the opportunity to _kill_ Alarink.

Already feeling her arms move to her swords, Zoelda tried to think of a rational way to stop herself from doing this. Finding none, she raised her swords, watching the faces of the three in front of her, and the way that Alarink put out a hand to stop Link from reaching for his own weapons. The controlled part of her laughed at him doing that, while the more free part of her willed herself to run.

Still achieving nothing, and beginning to swing her arms down on Alarink, Zoelda screamed in frustration. Ganondorf shrank back from the scream, freeing up the control of her legs and freezing her arms in place as the others stared at her in shock. Forming a plan, she screamed again and forced herself into a run with her swords raised above her.

It was a rather good plan to get rid of Ganondorf, she thought, until she felt him laugh within her as he realised that she was running head first into a desert sandstorm at night. Suddenly, he let go of his hold on her and seemed to watch as she ran aimlessly into a landscape she couldn't see and didn't know, her companions calling after her…

* * *

 _AN:_

 _So, there's been a spike of people reading this again. There's now double the number of people reading per chapter, which is pretty cool! Thank you!_

 _The third half of this chapter was the start of a section I had in mind before I started writing the story, so it's probably more thought through than some other parts of the story and I was very happy with how it turned out. The rest of it will be in next week's chapter._

 _Anyway, have a nice week, keep reading and enjoying, and I hope to see you again next week for another Alarink POV chapter._

 _~WWQ_


	11. 10 Gerudo Desert

_We're halfway there..._

* * *

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _10\. Gerudo Desert_

"Zoelda!" Alarink called once more to the girl running away from them into the storming night. He'd noticed something different about her since he'd woke her up that morning, something that wasn't noticeable to the eye, or even in her manor of speech. But it had been there, lurking in the far reaches of her mind and waiting for the best time to strike…

Ganondorf had damn near killed him because he'd let him grab a hold of Zoelda's mind while she'd been disoriented from the lift into his territory. And Alarink had simply thought it was motion sickness.

"Fuck you, Ganon!" He shouted into the desert, the Princess and 'Link' stood a little hesitantly behind him, not knowing what they should be doing.

"Did that make you feel better?" The Princess shouted over the storm, a hand shading her eyes. Silently, he glared at her, though his anger was more directed at himself than anyone else - he'd been the one to travel with Zoelda, _he_ should have noticed that Ganondorf was manipulating her. Shaking the sand out of his hair, a truly pointless act, he reached down to pick up Zoelda's bag of provisions and the cloak that 'Link' had draped over her, looking at it critically as he avoided looking at the hand holding it.

"Why did you use this cloak?" Asked Alarink, his face a mask of disgust as he pulled Zoelda's bag over his shoulder.

"We didn't bring any other cloaks with us," said the Princess, who was looking out into the storm, struggling to see more than a few feet in front of her. "You were there when we made that decision."

"In future, it's better to say we have no cloaks than to give Zoelda this one." The brunet grumbled angrily, stuffing the cloak into his bag and wondering to the south edge of the desert.

"She's going to find out who you are tomorrow, Alarink," the Princess pointed out, her tone matter of fact as she followed behind him. "You worry too much."

"I'd rather not have her know any sooner than necessary."

"You don't want to ruin the relationship you've cultivated with her by telling her the truth?" Asked the Princess pointedly as she stopped behind him. Before them, only scarcely visible thanks to the storm, was a crudely constructed stable that consisted of three walls and a slopping roof to provide shelter for any Bullbos in the area. Due to the fact that it was storming and early night, there were several Bullbos huddled together in the shelter of the stable, so Alarink selected two of the more docile looking ones and led them out.

"Is that so bad?" He asked the Princess in response to her question, watching as her face turned to disgust as she looked at the creatures. Any other time, he would have loved seeing her like that, then he was too angry at himself to enjoy it, too worried about Zoelda to bother dodging the Princess questions.

"No," she responded surprisingly softly, "just pointless to keep up much longer."

"This will all be a moot point if we don't find her tonight." He mumbled as he looked over the Bullbos, checking for any nicks or signs that they could pull up lame after a few minutes hard riding.

"We're going to ride those… _things_ to look for her?" The Princess looked the boar like creature over before shuddering and declaring, "I'd rather wade through the sand on foot."

"You can do that if you want, Princess," Alarink responded without any hint of his usual teasing as he mounted one of them, patting it gently as he did. "But it'll take you until tomorrow night to reach Arbiters that way, let alone look for Zoelda successfully."

Muttering to herself as she did, the Princess mounted the Bullbo first with 'Link' getting on behind her, reading a bow and arrow as he settled himself.

"They ride like a horse, just don't nudge them into a gallop or canter, you won't be able to control them if you do." Shading his eyes as he got his bearings - not an easy feat at night or during a storm, so he trusted his gut on the matter rather than the surroundings - Alarink finally turned to face north, pointing in front of him as he did. "Head in that general direction and by the middle of the night you should reach Arbiter's Grounds. Set up a camp just inside the entry way, but _don't_ go in. _Don't_ waste time looking for Zoelda on the way, you'll get yourself all turned around and lost if you do and that won't do anyone any good. If, by sunset tomorrow, I haven't caught up with you, turn around and go back to the lift and to the Castle - pretend this never happened, if it comes to that."

"You're going to look for her on your own?" Asked the Princess, not questioning his orders for once - she knew he knew the desert better than anyone in the Kingdom and they all knew what it would mean if they couldn't find Zoelda. If she turned up dead, then the entire timeline would be rendered pointless and Ganondorf would be free to rise and rain havoc on the next hero and Princess.

"I'm the only one who knows their way around here, and taking anyone with me will just slow me down." Alarink watched the sand swirling around him with contempt, wondering if he could find his way around the desert in these conditions. "If I don't turn up by the end of play tomorrow, tell Shad what happened here, he'll know how to search for me if needs be." He squared his shoulders as he turned to face the direction Zoelda had ran, looking back once at the Princess and 'Link' and noting the worry on their faces through the sand.

"Good luck." Said the Princess with a nod, knowing this was perhaps the most important search mission in all the realms now and knowing better than to annoy him over it.

"Keep her safe, 'Link', Ganondorf will come after her next." Alarink said, nodding sharply once as a way of saying goodbye before they spurred their Bullbos into action in different directions, the storm whipping their hair about them and coating them in sand as they ran.

* * *

Alarink tried to keep his thoughts simple as he ran, trying not to think of anything more than keeping the sand out of his eyes with his right arm, and keeping the Bullbo in control with his left. If he let them wonder for more than a second, he started envisioning all kinds of horrible scenarios that Zoelda could have ended up in thanks to him. If they strayed for even a moment they saw her stood opposite him, her swords raised in her hands to kill him. They lingered on the way he would have let her stab him rather than have him nick her with his own sword a bit to break her from Ganondorf's control.

Inevitably, his thoughts always came back to the pride he had in her for thinking of a way to break his control on her, before settling on irritation at the way she had run head first into a land she knew even less than Hyrule's main body.

The knowledge that Zoelda was the product of the Twin line had struck Alarink like a brick when he had first seen her Triforce. The fact that he had only learnt of the Twin line that day had made him very sceptical that it even existed, though he supposed that Impax had seen his scepticism during their first meeting that day and taken an effort to get rid of it and start him on the track to be ready when the time to fight Ganondorf came.

Really, Alarink had been ready for his part in it all for much longer, but the intricacies in preparing his body to accept the power of the Master Sword were things he hadn't even considered before meeting Impax. Having to present himself to the Spirits of the Springs and ask for them to purify his body were acts he hadn't thought necessary and were therefore things he was having to do on the go - though he only had two Springs left to visit now, and he was certain he could do that before they took the Sword to the Sacred Grove to reawaken it.

Quite suddenly, as he searched the two feet in every direction he could see thanks to the sandstorm, he realised how they would have to back track to the Grove after they got the Sword, a matter he hadn't thought of and one that made him slightly nervous. The whole time they were back tracking, Ganondorf would be scheming and wondering the halls of the Castle. On the other hand, the Castle was empty of people - the Princess had already seen to that - and it would give him the time he needed to run back to the treehouse and change into his armour.

It was while he was lost in thought that Alarink heard a shifting sound to his left. Half readying his sword, he turned slowly to the direction of the sound and noticed that he was by the inlet he had suspected to be camping in for the night. Walking the Bullbo towards the inlet, he noticed the shuffling sound getting louder, a sign that it likely wasn't the sound of the sand settling around him.

"Zoelda?" He called both loudly and gently into the inlet. "Zo, are you there? It's Alarink."

"A-Alarink..?" A small voice sniffled from the inlet as a figure started to emerge through the swirling sand. He dismounted and walked closer to the figure half-lying on the platform in the centre of the inlet where a chest had once stood. Keeping his hand on his sword as a precaution, Alarink slowly approached the figure, watching as he got close enough that the sand didn't obscure her anymore and Zoelda appeared before him.

Tear tracks stood plainly on her sand cover cheeks and there was a cut on her shin - in the place that her heeled boots had once covered but her Docs didn't. Pain caused her eyes to water and her lip to quiver, but relief stood plain on her face as she saw Alarink approach her. Relief stood just as plainly on his features as he approached, smiling that smile of his as he did, knowing it would put her more at ease while he internally fretted that that cut on her leg was far worse than it seemed.

"Hey there," Alarink smiled as he sat down next to her, watching her shift uncomfortably on her leg as he did. "I thought I should come and let you know you dropped your bag back there."

She took her bag of supplies back hesitantly, watching Alarink with confused, wide eyes. "Thank you." She said as she opened the bag and began looking through it for some bandages for her leg.

"Let me," he said, cutting a length of bandage off with the blunt dagger he always carried. As he started to clean her wound with the alcohol they'd brought with them, he offered her some food. "Eat, it's getting late and we hardly had any lunch anyway."

"Thank you," Zoelda winced as he cleaned her cut, eating gratefully as she watched him wrap the bandage around her leg and secure it in place.

"There you go, you should be able to walk on that by morning," he muttered as he lent back from her leg, grabbing some of the food as he did. "How'd you get that anyway?"

"Oh," she gently touched her shin as she spoke, probing it slightly with her fingers. "After I ran a few metres, I stopped and a Moldorm caught me off guard and bit me. I killed it and limped over to the wall, only to find there was shelter in the wall."

"I see you're back to normal now then, aside from being injured and hungry." Alarink grinned as he sliced an apple up for them to share, already having eaten much of the food he'd set aside for them. The storm had started to settle down as soon as he'd found Zoelda, a fact that made him suspect it might have been of Ganonical origins. A brisk breeze still blew through the desert, bringing with it a light coating of sand and a slightly obscured night sky.

"Yes, I feel much more myself now," she replied as she reached for one of the apple slices. "I'm sorry I scared you, and tried to kill you. That wasn't me, it was-"

"Ganon, I know, don't worry about it," Alarink smiled at her surprise, lounging back on his elbows slightly as he ate the last of the apple. "I don't hold it against you at all, Zo."

"Does anything faze you?" Asked she, both in genuine curiosity and slight irritation.

"Hum," Alarink pondered the question from where he lounged, watching the sky as he did. Ultimately, he decided to wait until tomorrow to show her what fazed him more than anything, but he knew he couldn't leave the question hanging until then. "Yes, there are a few things that faze me, and seeing you under Ganondorf's control was one of those things. But there's no point dwelling on it now, is there?"

"I guess not…" Zoelda muttered, looking up at the sky herself and noticing for the first time that the sandstorm had stopped. "The storm's stopped."

"Yeah, I think Ganon must have brewed it himself." He reached into his bag and pulled out a blanket. "But, since it's stopped, we might as well get some sleep. Busy day tomorrow."

"What about the others?" She asked as Alarink draped the blanket over her.

"They're going to meet us at Arbiters tomorrow morning, don't worry about them, they'll be fine."

After a few moments of attempting to make herself comfortable with her injured leg, Zoelda threw up her arms in anger. "I can't sleep like this!"

"Here," Alarink sat up and took her in his arms and pulled her close to him, arranging her legs so they were out in front of her and she lay half upright with her head against his chest. A part of her seemed happy to be in a comfortable position while most of her seemed to be wildly uncomfortable at being in such close proximity to him. Sighing a little, he asked her outright, "Why are you unhappy?"

"I'm fine," she replied, pulling up the blanket to her chest and making a face that suggested she was anything but fine.

"No, you're not," said he bluntly, moving his arms behind him so he wasn't holding her up anymore. "What's wrong? Worried I might try something on you in the middle of the night?"

"...A little…" She muttered.

"Well, worry not!" Alarink exclaimed, smiling down at her worried face. "I might be a philanderer, flirt and may have been compared to a male prostitute from time to time, but I'm not a rapist and I won't do anything to you if you don't want me to."

A sort of awkward silence descended on them then as Alarink desperately tried to see Zoelda's expression, but she kept her face deliberately turned away from him as she seemed to think.

Finally, she asked, "Why are you like that?"

"Like what?" He asked in response, a little confused and more than a little bit worried about the kind of question she was asking him. The girl seemed to have a habit of seeing through him and asking the kind of questions no one else would think to.

"Why are you like that?" She repeated, looking up at him with hard, slightly angry eyes. "Why are you a debaucherous philanderer, what made you that way?"

"Why would anything make me that way?" Alarink asked, a harsh note in his voice at the way she seemed to suggest it was a bad thing. "My father was unfaithful to his wife, surely that should explain why I can be with no one person myself."

"No," Zoelda said harshly, looking into his eyes and almost through him, seeing everything he had tried to hide from everyone in the Kingdom in one almost black-blue glance. "I won't pretend to know Link better than you, but I suspect that he was forced into a marriage with Ilia, despite the fact he was in love with someone else. He might have been in love with her once, but someone else came along and he loved her more. I suspect it was someone special, someone strong willed enough to make him consider being unfaithful. You're doing something else, and I'd hazard to guess it's partly the Princess' fault."

"My," muttered he through clenched teeth as he looked at the night sky as the storm finally blew itself out, revealing the stars and an almost full moon. "A little judgemental, aren't we?"

"Avoiding talking about the fact that I've hit the nail on the head, aren't we?" She smiled a twisted little smile up at him and he couldn't help but smile a sad, genuine one in return. The girl had somehow wrapped him around her finger without her knowing, had seen to the core of his actions in a way that Colin and Shad never had, despite knowing him so much longer.

"Very well, I might as well tell you some of the truth," Alarink sighed and looked away from her as he spoke earnestly for the first time to someone other than his mother. "You're right about my father, but it's easier for the Kingdom to simply believe he wasn't as good a man as they had once thought. After I moved here, my connection to him made many believe that I was just like him, that I would enjoy corrupting many and never settling down. After a few years of settling in and accepting who I was here - the bastard son of a Hero and someone the Kingdom would never respect - and of coming to terms with the fact that my father wasn't the man I thought he was, and loving him despite that, I began to enjoy my celebrity status. Sure, I'm not respected, and certainly not loved by anyone here in Hyrule, but I'd barely come out of puberty by the time I realised that many people preferred that in a man.

"Being the son of a Hero is a high enough status that, even if you're the Kingdom's scapegoat, everyone still wants to have the opportunity to say they've spent the night with you. An outcast status made me highly desirable to anyone who likes a 'bad-boy', which - it turns out - is most women and a fair number of men. And, damn it, if I'm going to be hated and shunned everytime I walk in a populated area, I'm certainly going to have my fun in the more unpopulated areas of life! ...Though I've not been known to say no to a bed populated by more than me and another…"

"You're disgusting," Zoelda muttered, her voice filled with contempt as she looked up at him, watching the way he looked off into the distance until she spoke. After that, he looked down at her, his face hardened and sad, willing her to understand what he was saying.

"No, I just did what I had to to survive in Hyrule," Alarink said with conviction, trying to make her see that his flirtatious nature, was, at the end of the day, an elaborate act to allow him some form of escape in a world that had always been hers to escape to. "I was determined to survive here, and if that means sharing a bed with a new stranger every night since I was 15, so be it."

"You've never loved any of the people you've slept with?"

"Love?" Alarink barked out a laugh as he looked out at the entrance to the inlet, the spires of Arbiter's Ground becoming more and more visible as the night cleared up. "Goddess, most of the time I don't even care for them, I know they certainly don't care for me."

Zoelda's face was troubled after he said that, her eyes uncertain and her features set in a small frown. "Huh…"

A thought came to him then as he watched her think through what he had said, one that would explain why she couldn't seem to wrap her head around his way of thinking. "You've never had sex, have you?"

"W-What!" Stammered she, her face flaming and her eyes wide. " _Why_ -*Ahem*-would you think that?"

"Well, aside from your reaction just now practically confirming it," Alarink smiled, a sweet true smile he rarely showed as she flamed from where she leant against his chest. "You seem to have very little tolerance for the way I talk about it, and more often than not, you get embarrassed by any form of contact with me, innocent as it may be. Naryu, you didn't even sleep in my bed on the first night here, you were so uncomfortable by it!"

"You can't prove I didn't sleep in your bed!"

"Zelda, the floor at the foot of the bed was still warm when I got in and the bed was exactly the same as I left it the day before." He grinned openly and honestly at her as she shied away from him, her entire face red, no thanks to the cold of the desert. "Zelda, my dear, you're a virgin, aren't you?"

"No need to rub it in my face," she muttered, turning her face away and seeming to will her blush to die.

"No, I'd assume no one's done that to you," Alarink couldn't help but say, his grin growing still before she slapped him across the cheek for teasing her. "OW!"

"Stop it!" Zoelda snapped at him as he rubbed his stinging cheek, feeling the first sprouts of stubble growing again as he did. "You're embarrassing me…"

"Hey, Zo, it's nothing to be ashamed of," said he in a gentler tone, trying to turn her back to face him. "I'm sorry if I struck a nerve or upset you."

"It's fine," she turned back to him, her cheeks still red, but a small smile on her lips. "I really shouldn't be this sensitive about it... And I'm sorry I slapped you."

"Hey, I've deserved to be slapped by many people many times when I wasn't, I'm glad to see you don't shy away from slapping people."

"Well, okay then," she crossed her arms over her chest and snuggled back down. "Since we've pretty much exhausted this line of conversation, why don't we go to sleep?"

"One moment," Alarink settled himself a little more comfortably before he asked, "This morning, when you said I reminded you of someone who wished he was your boyfriend, was that a bad thing?"

"Why do you ask?" Zoelda's voice was drowsy. It was clear that everything that had happened to them during the day had finally caught up to her. It was probably best to let her sleep now so they'd be prepared for the day tomorrow - if this had exhausted her, she would be in for an even more exhausting day tomorrow.

"... No reason."

"... It was a momentary lapse where I got homesick and reminded of someone I'd rather forget. You're nothing like him. Especially since I actually like and respect you as a human being, unlike him."

"A little harsh, but very well," Alarink smiled down at her one last time, watching as she smiled impishly up at him before turning back to face a more comfortable direction and close her eyes. "Goodnight, Zelda."

"Goodnight, Link."

* * *

Sleep eluded him for an hour or so more as he thought about everything that had happened since they had arrived in the desert. This was barely the first leg of their desert trip, and if this was getting to her, the chances of her managing the rest of it was rather slim. Finally, he came to a decision that he had been debating ever since she had appeared:

When going to get the Twili blessing, he would take her with him.

It wasn't, strictly speaking, necessary, but it certainly would help prove his cause to them. And if she saw Midna alive, it would provide more evidence to the Princess that she didn't die in the Pestilence. But, his reasoning for taking her with him was more than those facts, it was more than he would tell himself it was, but he knew she had to go with him wherever he went.

To protect her, of course, that was the reason.

He couldn't leave her behind in the Princess' and 'Link's' care, he couldn't be sure she would be safe there. If she was always with him, he could be certain that she wouldn't wind up dead somewhere and ruin the chance she had created for them in this timeline.

Alarink stared up at the sky, and started a little as he realised that it was a very similar shade of dark blue to Zoelda's eyes. Indeed, he thought the sky and the stary expanse of galaxy he could see in it was similar to the depths of her eyes, sprinkled over with a glittering mischief that always seemed to see to the heart of him.

Tearing himself away from the sky, he looked down at her and watched the way the moon played against her skin, washing it pale and tracing almost imperceptible shadows along her to dance on a perfect stage. Her breathing was level and her eyelids flickered with dreams, ones that he couldn't help but hope contained him.

His last trains of thoughts pulled him up short. They were the kind of thoughts he'd never had before, ones he'd never wanted to have before. Since his father had died, it had always been him against the worlds, there had been no one else for him to think about, to look out for - at least in Hyrule.

It had just been him and what he wanted.

Now, he was thinking about someone else, what she might want and what she meant to him. He was thinking about what might happen if she was to go back to her world and leave him behind. Or worse, and more likely, what it would mean to her when he died, how would she react, how would it break her?

Suddenly, the meaning of what he felt for her hit him quite completely, though his mind couldn't possibly accept it as a fact.

So, he turned his attention back to the sky, watching as the clouds obscured some of the stars, feeling as far away as they did as his thoughts overwhelmed him once more…

* * *

 _AN:_

 _So, after chapter 8's impressive 40 views, we fell back to nine last week. And it's to you nine people that I say thank you. You are the people that have stuck with me the whole way through, and I really do appreciate all of you continuing to read this with each chapter. And hey, we're halfway through now, only 10 more chapters to go._

 _With regards these last ten chapters, you'll probably notice a change in writing style, perhaps a little more flow through them. This is because I wrote all of these last chapters (apart from 13) in one day each - i.e. this chapter was written in one day in the middle of September last year. I really got in the zone with these ten chapters because I knew exactly where I was going with them and what I wanted to say. That's not to say that some parts of my chapters didn't come out of the blue in the moment of writing - chapter 12 has a 2000 word monologue that I certainly didn't plan. But it's these last chapters that really represent what my writing style is and who these characters I've created are. And it's in these chapters where the characters and my writing style develop and change the most._

 _And with regards to who these characters are, you'll find out who Alarink's mother is next chapter if you haven't already guessed. (I was both more and less subtle with implying who she was in these previous chapters than I wanted to be.)_

 _So, thanks for your continued reading, we're halfway through now and I hope you'll stick with me for these last ten chapters, trust me when I say they're much better than the first ten._

 _Have a nice week._

 _~WWQ_


	12. 11 Arbiter's Grounds

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _11\. Arbiter's Grounds_

The sky was a dusty pink and orange colour when Zoelda woke up, her neck and back slightly stiff from sleeping half upright. She couldn't see the sun through the opening of the inlet, but dawn seemed to have just approached if the colours of the sky were to be trusted. Though the last remnants of sleep threatened to pull her back under, she was determined not to sleep too late today - and she didn't particularly want to go back to her dreams again.

While, like all her dreams since she'd arrive in Hyrule, Demise's presence lingered heavily, always watching, always waiting; this time he didn't make a move to control her, seemingly having given up on that idea since the last time didn't work. So, in the dreams of last night, she'd been subjected to simply staring at him as he did her, with Alarink stood between them. Alarink's presence in her dream made her slightly nervous, not because of the conversations they'd had before she'd fallen asleep, but because he seemed subtly different in her dream.

Though she hadn't known him for very long, she suspected she knew him better than most people who'd known him his entire life, and as such, she liked to think that his lack of fear in dangerous encounters had a limit, that he probably wouldn't stand up against Ganondorf in the flesh in the same way he had against her the day before. But, in her dream, he'd seemed more than willing to give his life up against Ganondorf, to the point where it felt like he wouldn't even put up a fight.

Plus, there had been that mark on his chest, a cut that ran from his left shoulder to right hip that bled both blood and the golden light of the Triforce.

It was that mark that made her curiously regard his torso as she pushed herself away from him, noticing that the cut on her leg didn't hurt as much as she did. The belts that secured his weapons to his back covered where the cut would have been visible, and his slightly too small tunic was thick enough that it wasn't see-through. So, she racked her thoughts back to any time she'd seen even the slightest glimpse of his torso under his shirt, trying to remember if there had been some kind of scar or cut crossing it.

Lost in her thoughts, a slight blush on her cheeks as she thought of all the times she'd caught a glimpse of Alarink's chest, seemingly by accident, Zoelda didn't realise she was looking directly at his face until she felt him grinning at her.

"OH!" She exclaimed as she realised, turning her face away slightly as he continued to grin. "Sorry…"

"Oh, no, don't worry about it," he replied, his voice light as he untied the cloth that held his hair in a short tail and shaking the sand out of it. "I've had many people stare at me in the early morning, though none with the same kind of concentration as you. Something on your mind? Something on my face? … Is there something on my face?"

Looking up at him again, watching as he brushed sand off his face and out of his hair a little self-consciously, she noticed the light shadow stubble on his chin that had grown quickly over the course of the night and the deep shadows under his troubled pale eyes that seemed to suggest that he hadn't slept. She also noticed the red mark on his cheek from where she'd slapped him, a small grin coming to her lips as she did.

"Ah, fuck, I do have something on my face, don't I?" He asked, pulling his hair back up. "Alright, where is it? _What_ is it? Bug? Sand clump? Something unspeakable?"

"A red slap mark." Zoelda giggled slightly, feeling no remorse over her slap causing a mark that lasted overnight.

"Really?" He rubbed a hand over his cheek, wincing a little as he did. "Impressive, Zo."

"Thanks, and sorry." She smiled, brushing her own face free of the sand that had collected the night before, knowing better than to try and clean her hair of it - she'd have to do that with water at some later point.

"It'll be hard to explain why you slapped me to the Princess later, but I suspect she won't think you needed a reason." Alarink rubbed his chin as he reached around for one of the bags, pulling out some fruit for their breakfast. "Speaking of her 'highness', I told her and 'Link' we'd meet them at Arbiter's Grounds before this afternoon, so we should probably get moving soon. We don't want to get caught out in the heat waves later."

"Right," she muttered, pushing herself into a sitting position and removing the blanket from about her legs. A part of her seemed to have forgotten they were currently in a desert and that if they stayed there much longer they were liable to start boiling. So, she grabbed one of the apples and got to her feet, noticing she was slightly unsteady but certainly not as bad as she could have been. "We aren't going to walk to Arbiters, are we? It'll take us all day!"

"Of course we're not walking." Alarink said, pulling his bag over his shoulder and putting his weapons back away. As he sheathed his short sword under his tunic, Zoelda covertly watched his lower torso, trying to spot any sign of the cut from her dream as his tunic rode up a little.

"Hey," Zoelda jumped, not so much at his sharp tone but in embarrassment as a blush flooded her cheeks again. Looking up at him, she saw him grinning, the troubled look in his tired eyes gone, replaced by amusement and some other unnamed emotion. "My eyes are up here."

He then very deliberately turned around so she couldn't see his eyes and he couldn't see her roll hers. Sighing as she dropped the apple core in the sand - knowing some Moldorm would enjoy that later - she began to sheath her swords as well, noticing she was already beginning to sweat in the morning sun. It was going to be a long day, she suspected as she watched Alarink walk a Bullbo back to where she stood.

"We'll ride him," he said, giving the creature his own apple core to eat while he brushed himself down of sand, rubbing at his chin again afterwards. "Ugh, I can't stand this. Let's wrap up here in the desert quickly so I can shave."

"I was thinking more let's get out of the desert quickly so we don't burn, but sure." Said Zoelda as she looked the Bullbo over. "We can't spur these into a gallop, can we?"

"I wouldn't recommend it, no," Alarink said, motioning to her to get on first, much to her surprise. "You steer, I'll take care of any Moldorm. With that injury I don't think you should be doing any fighting right now."

"Okay," she replied, limping ever so slightly as she made her way over to the Bullbo and mounted it. It was shorter than a horse, but she supposed they rode in the same way, though she didn't like the way her feet almost touched the floor when seated on it. As he got on behind her, Alarink tucked her legs up so her knee was the lowest point, reaching just above the creature's ribs.

"Straddle it like that so you don't injure your legs," he said as he tucked his own legs up and rested them on the inside of hers. "They're more suited to Hylians and Blublin height, but I'm sure we can manage."

"What are you that's made you so much taller than normal Hylians?" Zoelda asked as she wiggled the reins, moving the creature into its standard run, deliberately trying not to think about the way her legs were supporting Alarink's or of the conversations they'd had the night before. She knew she was taller than a normal Hylian - or even human - thanks to the blood of the Goddess being watered down over the generations of breeding with humans, though the question of why Alarink was so tall, of where he came from and what he was, still plagued her.

"You'll find out later, Zoelda," he said in response, shooting an arrow into an approaching Moldorm as he did. By now, she knew better than to push it, so she settled on simply steering the Bullbo in the direction of the spires growing taller on the northern horizon. That feeling that something important was going to happen in Gerudo grew ever stronger as they rode on and the heat bore down on them.

* * *

It took them until just before noon to reach Arbiter's Grounds, and by then the heat was almost unbearable. It didn't help that Zoelda was raised in Britain, where the heat rarely got above 25ºC in the summer, so she wasn't used to the heat or the sun hitting down on her without any clouds to block it. The fact that she was also wearing an armoured dress of coarse fabric was not particularly helpful and she was practically drenched in sweat by the time they arrived in the courtyard before Arbiters.

As she and Alarink dismounted and walked into the slightly shaded courtyard, she noticed he wasn't sweating anywhere near as much as she was, a fact that made her unnecessarily angry. For a moment she even wondered if Alarink was part Gerudo, which would have explained both his height and seeming imperviousness to the heat, before disregarding it as a stupid thought. Even if there were still the occasional Gerudo women around, it would've be unlikely that any of them would've enticed the former Link from Ilia.

They made their way to the entrance of the coliseum that was Arbiter's Grounds, sticking to the occasional shade provided by crumbled old prison cells as they did, Zoelda willing herself not to spontaneously combust as the heat continued to overwhelm her. She could practically feel her skin peeling away from her body when the sun beat down on her.

"Keep moving," Alarink muttered encouragingly to her when she slowed under the heat. "We're nearly there." Looking over at him, seeing the strained look on his face and haunted tiredness to his eyes, she wondered if he was saying that as much for her as he was for himself.

Finally, just as the sun hit its highest point, they arrived at the base of the coliseum to see Link and the Princess hiding in the shaded entrance to the dungeon. Zoelda looked up once at the coliseum, her mind boggling at the fact it could be so high and yet the spires of the sages could be even higher. Heatwaves obscured much of her view, and the crushing sunlight made looking up at the pale coloured structure for too long painful, so she finally looked away and walked into the shaded doorway with great enthusiasm.

As soon as she'd crossed into the shadow, the Princess embraced her. The sudden hug caught Zoelda all off balance, leading her to stand there awkwardly patting her back until she finally let go.

"My apologies," Princess Zelda said, her eyes slightly watery as she pulled way. "I'm just so relieved to see you alive. I truly feared the worse for a while there."

"Oh," Zoelda didn't particularly know what to say to that as she stood a little awkwardly, unable to break the Princess' gaze. "I'm sorry to have worried you."

"Hey, where's my hug?" Alarink asked, his arms held open wide and expectantly just behind Zoelda. His stance caused his tunic to ride up slightly, revealing a sliver of skin that was very hard to see against the light behind him. Still, Zoelda squinted against the light, trying to see even the hint of the cut she'd seen in her dream at his right hip. "Okay, seriously, Zoelda. What is with you staring at my chest today?"

"I'm not staring at your chest." Responded she automatically, meeting his quizzical gaze with her own, willing her blush not to rise as she did. There was something about the way he looked today, something subtle but profound, that made her to a double take every time she looked at his eyes - sometimes they were haunted, sometimes just tired or slightly strained, but there was now something there in them that she couldn't place. It was an almost silent question, teasing her into understanding it, but one she wasn't sure she knew how _to_ answer.

"Right…" Alarink said sarcastically, his arms still open for a hug and his features serious though a laugh was hiding behind his haunted eyes. "Sure you're not."

"Regardless, Alarink," the Princess said, rolling her eyes and walking over to Link, who had been setting up a small platter of food for lunch - a selection of different breads and cheeses to go with the fruit that seemed to accompany every meal in Hyrule. "I'm not going to hug you and we need to carry on moving. So, let us eat before we carry on to the Mirror Grounds."

"Very well," he said, moving to sit next to the food set on a small blanket. "Though in future, you could at least pretend to have missed me a little. One hug isn't going to kill you."

"I'd rather not take my chances."

"I'm just a guy asking for a hug here."

"Ask the Twili."

"Speaking of the Twili," Zoelda said carefully, watching the way that Alarink was eyeing the Princess after her last heartless statement; there seemed to be a warning not to push it in that glance. "How are we going to get to their realm and who is going there?"

"I'll be the one to open the gate to the Twilight Realm," said Alarink, the warning in his look at the Princess still there. "And, as long as it's alright with Zeldy, you and I will go through together to get the blessing and Master Sword."

"Why am I not allowed to come through with you?" The Princess asked, her tone genuinely curious. "It's a royal duty to keep the communications to the Twili open, after all."

"It's a duty you've ignored your entire life, Princess. And I doubt Midna will want to see you since you've ignored her all this time and believe her to be dead."

"It would be an opportunity for me to see her alive with my own eyes." The Princess remained stubborn and Zoelda suspected there was another argument brewing. "You can't refuse a royal request, Alarink."

"Oh, but I can, Zelda." Alarink was equally as stubborn on the matter as the Princess, a strange note of command in his voice. "You will remain here with 'Link' as I take Zoelda with me to the Twilight realm."

"You can't order me around!" Princess Zelda shouted at him, shocked that he'd even try to do such a thing. An angry blush stood on her hardened features as she pointed at Zoelda. "And why does _she_ get to come if I can't?"

"Because Zoelda will prove our cause to Midna, who may be on the fence about giving her blessing otherwise; Ganondorf's body _is_ in her Kingdom after all."

"Surely my presence will help prove the validity of the cause too?" The Princess insisted. Behind her, packing away the rest of the food, Link was rolling his eyes, motioning to Zoelda to help him as the others continued to argue. "You can't refuse me, Alarink!"

"Princess," said Alarink firmly, his features hard as he stared her down. "Since the end of the Twili invasion, no member of the royal family has ever visited their realm."

"Yeah, because-"

"You couldn't?" Alarink smiled, though there was no amusement in his eyes. "That's a lie and you know it. There was only one brief period of time when no one could open the Twilight gate, between Link dying and me arriving. Before and after then, there has been a way for you to keep your communications open, you just didn't use it. I have even offered to take you there in the past."

"I would never take you up on that sort of an invitation."

"Then you have no right to request it of me now." He said sharply as he stood up, brushing himself down and keeping a level gaze at the Princess. "You might be Princess here in Hyrule, Zeldy, your say here might be absolute and you may have never been refused access anywhere here in your life, but you'll have no power in the Twilight Realm. And, as much as I think it'll do you some good to see things from a commoner's point of view in the Twilight Realm, I doubt you'd appreciate having to answer to someone you've looked down on."

"I may surprise you." The Princess rose to her feet, raising her chin in an attempt to look down on the man before her and command herself over him. It was a humorous sight considering she was a head shorter than him in Ilia's boots.

"I doubt it," Alarink grinned at how she was looking down on him from below.

"I _command_ you to take me with you to the Twilight Realm!"

"And I command _you_ to stay here." The Princess blinked in surprise, a flush coming to her cheeks. Alarink was looking down at her sternly, even regally, his eyes amused but face set as he did, the sun coming in from behind him to make him look even more intimidating.

Despite them being nearly the same age, there had never a more clear divide between their maturity than then - Princess Zelda looked every bit of a spoilt young Princess while Alarink looked every inch of an aged bastardised hero.

It was in that moment that Zoelda remembered how the Princess had mockingly called him "Bastard Prince" in the inn two nights before, asking him: _"How did you feel when people treated you differently because of that title, Link?"_

A shiver went down Zoelda's spine as she watched the two of them stare each other down, the implications of Alarink's nickname becoming ever clearer as he held his ground against the Princess of Hyrule.

After a few more moments - and the feeling of eternity passing - the Princess finally lowered her eyes, silently admitting defeat.

"I'm glad you could see it my way, Zedly dear." Alarink smiled, patting her gently on the shoulder, an act that only added more insult to injury. "But chin up, you've yet to show us your way to the Mirror chamber. I'd imagine it's a lot easier to traverse than going through the dungeon like I usually do."

"Follow me…" The Princess mumbled, her head down as she walked over to the seemingly solid right wall of the coliseum entrance and removed a brick from it. Behind the thin brick was a key hole, the key itself hidden in the back of the removed the brick. Princess Zelda unlocked the door and motioned to Link to push the door open for her, revealing a flight of roofed over stairs that seemed to run the entire perimeter of the coliseum. "This is the way Mother used to take Princess Midna back a score of years ago. We walk the perimeter of the coliseum once on these stairs before reaching its peak and descending the stairs there into the Mirror Chamber."

Alarink whistled lowly, testing the second step's integrity with his foot as he looked up at the rest. "Much easier than traversing the dungeon…" He muttered before jogging up a few of the stairs. "Come on then, we should try and get to the Chamber before dark."

Zoelda, still a little shaken by the argument between him and the Princess, shrugged and started after him, leaving the Princess to follow after her and Link to close the door before he brought up the rear.

It didn't take long until the stair jogging became stair trudging. Though the roof over the stairs protected them from the sun, the heat still sapped their energy and the stairs seemed to go on forever. Plus, there was the fact that Zoelda had been injured the night before, and while it didn't hurt all that much, it was still healing and causing her an uncomfortable thudding pain.

Maybe half an hour later, they reached the piece of crumbled stair. A distance of perhaps ten feet had crumbled into nothingness over the years of use, though the outer wall of the stairs still held firm to the roof over it. Alarink was regarding it carefully as Zoelda approached him from behind. Though her and the other two were beginning to tire, Alarink hadn't even broken a sweat and would already be half way there if it wasn't for the rest of them slowing him down.

It was almost as though the promise of going to the Twilight Realm was giving him more energy than he ever seemed to have had before, all the tiredness that had so plainly spoken of no sleep the night before had disappeared as soon as they'd started climbing the stairs to the Mirror Chamber. Or perhaps it was just a high after besting the Princess in an argument.

Either way, Zoelda resented his energy as she rested her hands on her knees at the chasm, happy for the opportunity to stop for a minute and catch her breath. A part of her was trying to wrap her head around how Alarink was acting towards the Twilight Realm, finally putting the final pieces of the puzzle of where he came from and who his mother was into place, while another part of her was avoiding looking at it too closely. The combination of puzzling thoughts, heat and bone-weary exhaustion was giving her a severe headache.

"It's a hole, Alarink." She said sarcastically as she straightened up, her breathing more steady.

"I can see that, Zoelda." He sarcastically replied, rubbing his chin as he continued to think. "I'm just trying to think of a way for the rest of you to cross it."

"What, you could do it on your own no problem?" Snapped she as the other two caught up to them, Link supporting his Princess with a hand on her elbow. Seeing such support made her irrationally angry at Alarink - why wasn't he helping her like that?

"Sure," he pointed at a few cracks in the coliseum wall to their left and the gaps in the outside wall to their right that acted like windows. "Light parkour."

"Here," the Princess pulled out a long, coiled up rope ladder from her bag, handing it to Alarink as she put the bag back on her back. Since their argument, the Princess hadn't said much and had obviously been avoiding the brunet, and as she spoke to him now, there seemed to be a note of respect, even submission in her voice as she left the problem of crossing the chasm in his hands.

"Thank you, Princess." Alarink took the rope ladder with a grin, securing it to the ground with a few chunks of rubble littering the stairs and looping the rest around his shoulder as he began preparing himself to cross the chasm. The rest of them stood out of his way and watched as he carefully planned his route, muttering incoherently under his breath. The Princess sighed as he turned to them and winked while Zoelda watched him with angry eyes, wishing he would simply get on with it.

Suddenly it struck her that her and the other Zelda had almost changed roles with dealing with Alarink since the argument, a fact that made her feel profoundly uncomfortable.

She didn't linger on the thought too heavily then as Alarink had wondered a few steps down to get a running start on his chasm crossing parkour. The three of them watched as he began running, his mutterings becoming louder as he ran, each step punctuated by a word they couldn't hear until he got closer to them.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" Zoelda rolled her eyes, what else would he be muttering which each running step?

Then he launched himself at the right wall, grabbing onto the window ledge at the last minute, readying his feet to launch off again immediately into the left wall, grabbing onto an almost invisible crack to hold himself upright.

"Fuuuck! Fuuuuck!" He shouted each time he jumped from wall to wall, a certain type of elegance and grace in how he was managing to keep his momentum up without ever faltering. Only his swearing marred a graceful performance of crossing the chasm, though it did leave Zoelda wondering if the Links of the past were actually swearing every time they jumped or swung their sword, making that apparent "hyup!" sound as they did.

Finally, after no more of a minute of parkouring - though it had felt like an eternity to the secretly worrying Zoelda - Alarink reached the other side of the chasm, raising his arms above his head like a gymnast as he landed.

"Parkour!" He shouted, fist pumping the air immaturely as the rest of them watched him, relief and annoyance at his delaying them plain on their faces.

"Link!" Zoelda shouted at him from across the gap, her gaze hard. Even at such a distance, she could see him grinning at himself and at managing to annoy them.

"Alright, fine," shouted he back, securing the other end of the ladder carefully with rubble from his side of the gap.

When they were given the sign that it was safe enough to cross, Zoelda was sent first. Setting aside her fears that this wasn't safe and that she'd fall tens of feet to her death in a desert, she carefully got on her hands and knees and crawled across, pointedly not looking beneath her as she did. When she got to the other side of the chasm, Alarink offered his hand to help her up, which she took gratefully without even much thought at how annoying he'd been in his crossing before.

As she got to her feet, her hand still in Alarink's, she noticed their Triforces glowing like they had when he'd helped her to her on Malanya when they first met. Looking up from their hands, intending to ask him why he was yet to let go, she saw a sad smile on his lips. It was the same sad smile he'd had when they'd seen Demise in the Throne room, the smile of one giving themselves over to a destiny they don't like, but can't change.

But behind the smile in his pale turquoise eyes was the same question that had been there since this morning, the one she didn't know how to answer or even - more tantalisingly - what exactly it meant.

Finally, he let go of her hand and grinned that damned grin of his, though his eyes were still haunted by the question and sadness. "Next time, allow me a moment to celebrate, please."

"Sure, Alarink," she rolled her eyes as she watched the Princess begin her crawl across.

* * *

Thankfully, that was the only crumbled area on the stairs and the rest of the journey was much like the beginning: uneventful and strenuous. Though, for the rest of the almost two hour climb to the Mirror Chamber, Alarink stayed a little closer to Zoelda, keeping their pace a little slower and helping her occasionally when the pain in her leg became a problem.

Alarink's differing behaviour that day was enough to give her whiplash, though she tried not to think too heavily on it as they climbed, instead focusing on the simple problem of putting one foot ahead of the other up the stairs. Although, more frequently than she liked, her thoughts travelled back to the argument between him and the Princess, and the final implications of who he was.

She was almost certain she knew now and with that certainty came the realisation that - while he had obviously kept it from her well and for a necessary reason - she should have figured it out much sooner. It was almost incredibly obvious in hindsight. Then again, what wasn't?

Finally, they reached the top of the stairs that lead into the Mirror Chamber itself. The Chamber had not been changed at all since the end of the Twilight Era, much to Zoelda's surprise. She'd expected to see a new Mirror of Twilight at least, but instead the old broken Mirror still stood staring at a blank slab of black rock.

Evidentially, the lack of new Mirror also caused some confusion to the Princess and her knight as both their faces were questioning and quizzical. It occurred to her that she still had no idea how they were going to open the road to the Twilight Realm, and it looked like the other two didn't know either.

Only Alarink, who was jogging down the stairs two at a time, almost desperate to get to the bottom and the slab that allegedly lead to the other realm, knew how it worked. They were all reliant on his ability to get them an audience with the Princess of the realm, on his ability to get to the realm in the first place.

The three of them picked their way down the steep stairs carefully, exhausted by the climbing in a way that Alarink wasn't, though Zoelda still suspected that his lack of exhaustion stemmed from the fact that he was eager to go to the Twilight Realm for whatever reason. As they finally reached the bottom, the sun edging its way to setting once again and the air around them turning very cold, they saw the brunet setting up a small fire and rummaging through his bag.

"I suggest we get something to eat and set up a tent for the night before Zoelda and I go in." He said as they approached. "Time can move very differently in there, a few hours can be days in Hyrule, or vice versa."

"Why is that?" Zoelda asked, putting her own bag down and getting out her food supply for Link, who seemed to have taken up the duty of cooking for them as he started arranging a few pans.

"I don't know," Alarink admitted. "It's just the way it is. The Twili control their time however they please now that they're not linked to Hyrule. Normally, they leave it alone though, so we'll probably be gone however long it seems we are."

"Huh," she muttered as she helped the Princess pitch their tent. "How strange."

"The Twili are a strange people." Alarink muttered, removing his weapons. "And there's no need for you to take any weapons with you in to their realm, in fact it'll hurt our case if you do."

"Okay…" Zoelda removed her weapons and their sheaths at his instruction, willing her stomach not to rumble as she smelt the food Link was cooking.

"I think now's as good a time as any," the Princess drew herself up as she helped Link dish up the food he'd cooked for them - nothing particularly exciting, just some toasted bread and cheese, but easily the nicest looking meal since they'd left the inn. "Alarink, how are you going to open the way to the Twilight Realm?"

"I'll show you when the time comes." He answered flatly, a twinkle in his eye as he winked at the Princess over his food. She scoffed at him, and, suddenly, Zoelda's faith in the natural balance of things was restored.

They ate their food quietly as Alarink rummaged through the bags looking for something, his cheese on toast in his mouth as he did. Beside him already was the robe he'd worn to the Eldin Spring a few nights ago and Zoelda was looking at it with thinly veiled curiosity. It was a black robe with a cyan lining and golden trim around the belled sleeves. There were thin, almost unnoticeable blue patterns embroidered into it here and there and the entire item altogether looked very Twili.

It was then that her suspicions on Alarink's lineage were practically confirmed, though she decided not to get confirmation then and to rather see for herself when they arrived in Twilight.

"Where did I put it?" Alarink mumbled to himself suddenly, one hand undoing the cloth that held his hair up while the other still rummaged through the bags. "I know I put you in one of these bags, so, where are you?"

"Alarink, perhaps if you tell us what you're looking for, we can help you." The Princess said nicely enough, though there was an annoyed undertone to her voice that undermined the pleasantness of her words.

"Very well," he said, his face confused as he pulled his short hair neatly through an onyx ring that Zoelda had never seen before. It was a beautiful ring, obviously pricey, and she couldn't help but wonder why she'd never seen it before. "I'm looking for a circlet. It's a thin silver band with a small ruby set in it and I can't seem to find it anywhere."

"Oh, you mean this?" The Princess pulled out a large ring from her dress pocket. It was very thin, thinner that Alarink had made it out to be, almost a cobweb thin line of silver supporting a ruby no bigger than a fingernail in its centre.

"Princess…" Alarink's tone was icy as he took the circlet from her gently. "Why did you have this in your pocket?"

"I thought you might have bought me a gift."

"And you decided to take it without checking first?"

"Well, I just assumed it would be easier than bothering you about it." Princess Zelda seemed to be missing the frosty tone with which he spoke, carrying on as though it was no big deal that she'd taken something that was clearly important to him.

"Next time, bother to check first." He said from between clenched teeth as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying not to let his anger get the better of him.

"Alright," said she, slightly peevishly as he settled the circlet on his head. Against his dark fringe, the silver seemed to shine like a thousand tiny stars and the ruby glowed like its own planet. "It just seems a shame that you own it. It's a gift befitting royalty, and yet it's worn by a bastard."

"You stupid, royal bitch." Alarink whispered, though not quite quietly enough as the Princess' eyes widened immediately after hearing it. His temper finally broke. "You're not the only member of royalty here, and you'd do well to remember that since you want access to _my_ Kingdom."

He grabbed Zoelda's hand and pulled her to her feet with uncharacteristic force, grabbing his robe with his other hand as they walked over to the broken Mirror in front of the slab. Though he was obviously trying to hide it from her, she could see his hand was a pale blue where it held the robe.

"Make sure Ganondorf doesn't get to her while we're gone," he called to Link over his shoulder as he squared up to the slab before then. "And don't let her steal my shit!"

Then all his anger was gone and he seemed to draw from something deep within himself, breathing very steadily and forcibly calmly as he did. Still holding onto Zoelda's wrist, his grip no longer tight, but light and airy - almost as though he had meant to let go of her, but had forgotten to - he threw his cloak over his shoulder and raised his left hand palm forward to the slab, his eyes closed and his face set as he spoke:

"Here me, ancestors! I am Prince Link, of the Twili, and I request passage for me and this daughter of the Goddess Hylia to my Realm! Open the way and guide me ever more on my quest against the ancient evil!"

The Gate to the Twilight Realm opened slowly on the stone slab, and the bridge into it appeared out of the air before them as Alarink lowered his hand and smiled, crossing onto the seemingly insubstantial bridge with Zoelda by his side. She was far too shocked to do anything more than walk wide eyed next to Alarink into the realm of his childhood.

The realm in which he was not Alarink the bastard philander, but Prince Link, son of Queen Midna and the Hero of Twilight.

* * *

 _AN:_

 _So, Alarink's parentage has finally been revealed. Like I said last chapter, I was both more and less subtle than I wanted to be alluding to that in previous chapters, so you might have figured it out before or you might not have, it doesn't exactly matter now._

 _I wanted to say here that the next three or four chapters are very long - all over 5000 words - with the next chapter being 8000 ish words in itself. But, from here everything starts moving a little faster - we're at the last battle by the end of chapter 16. Also, like I said last time, with one exception, all the rest of the chapters were written in a day, so they should have more of a cohesive flow._

 _The only other thing I wanted to say here is that I really enjoyed writing that little argument between the Princess and Alarink in this chapter, it wasn't intended before I started the chapter but now it's probably my favourite part of this one._

 _So, have a nice week and whatever, see you next time for the first look at the real Alarink._

 _~WWQ_

 _PS. If you like BOTW, I wrote a little oneshot for Urbosa last Sunday that you can check out from my Profile, it should give an idea of how my writing style has changed, though it's a bit different in this._


	13. 12 Twilight Realm

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _12\. Twilight Realm_

The implications of Alarink being Twili royalty didn't hit Zoelda until much later. However, the revelation of who he was was enough to knock her off balance as he pulled her into the realm of shadow. The journey itself was quick - one moment she was in Hyrule, the next in Twilight - a fact that made her head reel as her feet hit solid shadow.

Dazed by the suddenness of the reveal and landing in the Twilight Realm, Zoelda found herself knocked off her feet and onto her knees as soon as Alarink let go of her wrist. It was a landing made all the more painful because of her injury and the fact that it was strikingly cold in Twilight in comparison to Gerudo. The shadowy floor all but froze her exposed shins as it covered them in tendrils like smoke and the sudden change in temperature seemed to freeze her peeling, burnt skin to its place. She suspected it was going to take a long time to restore her skin again when she got home.

Her thoughts on the temperature and skin care were far from her mind as she looked out at the world before her for the first time. As far as the eye could see, everything was coated in a cloud of shadow, even the ground itself seemed to have been built on the insubstantial shadow clouds. No more than half an hour's walk away was the Palace of Twilight, a simple and brooding structure jutting out on the dark horizon. There was obviously no vegetation, since there was no sun in this land of shadow, and all of the milling shapes on the streets leading up to the Palace were either very squat or very tall, all of one type or the other looking very similar to each other as they conversed and shopped.

They had landed, so far as she could tell, on the very edge of the realm, just out of view of the public eye. And not far in front of them, on the platform where the Mirror of Twilight used to spit out it's visitors, stood the body of Ganondorf, the Master Sword still sticking out of his back. Though the sight of the body itself was disturbing, the way that the citizens of the Twilight Realm ignored it was even more so.

Zoelda found herself feeling very alone in the shadows, despite the fact that she could feel Alarink watching her to her left, hidden even more from the public view than she was.

"Alright, up you come." Alarink said after a few more moments of her sitting in the shadows and looking out at the sight before her, hugging her shoulders and not moving. Offering her his left hand, Zoelda took it gratefully, not registering that it was a pale blue in colour with the likeness of the Triforce tattooed onto the back of it in a bright cyan until she was standing. It was then, staring in awed fascination at his hand for several moments, that she looked up at him properly.

She could hardly contain her gasp as she saw him in his Twili form.

He'd taken off his tunic at some point after they'd arrived, baring his lean torso with the same kind of indifference to partial nudity that all Twili seemed to have, and revealing his bi-coloured body. While Zoelda seemed to remember the Twili all having different patterns and distributions of black on pale blue skin, Alarink's chest was split evenly between black and blue by a thick scar running from his left shoulder to his right hip. On the right side, his body was a jet black, while his left was a pale blue, the scar cutting it tattooed in cyan and silver. His lower arms were both marked with tattoos indicating his rank, and his upper left arm was ringed near the shoulder by the solid black that covered his back. His feet were also bare under his slightly too short trousers, both of which shared the same colouring as his upper body and were topped by a thin silver anklet that Zoelda couldn't help but wonder if he wore all the time.

It was his head that held the most surprise, however. While it was a straight blue colour that had started strikingly on the black of his neck like all other Twili faces, his eyes were still the same pale turquoise they'd been back in Hyrule, making them look even paler and slightly out of place against his face and in the black Twili eye-shadow that ringed them. And his hair, that had been an almost jet black in Hyrule, was now an orange only a shade lighter than Midna's, tied back severely from his face using the onyx ring. The circlet, that was gently visible against his hair in Hyrule, had all but faded against his now bright ginger fringe, leaving only the ruby as a glowing red star in the centre of his forehead. The stubble he'd complained about earlier that morning had hardly been visible against his Hylian skin, now it was all too clear against his Twili skin, a slight shadow of ginger on his lower face.

Still gaping, Zoelda could hardly believe that the man before her was the same man she'd met days before. He looked so remarkably different in every sense of the word, but there was also the way he held himself that marked him as a different man in Twilight. In Hyrule, he'd lounged, even stooped so that he could talk to the short Hylians at their height, never trying to make himself look like anymore than a commoner who liked company at the end of every night. Here, he held himself tall, his expression serious with the under tone of humour, his eyes piercing in their unusualness.

Here in the Twilight Realm, Alarink held himself like a prince, though the amused glint in his eyes told people not to treat him with any of the royal respect that Princess Zelda would have demanded in this Kingdom that was not hers.

"Finally getting a look at my chest, Zo?" He grinned at her, that undefinable accent that had always been hidden under his voice more obvious now, showing it to be the Twili accent, a soft lilt that was strangely European.

"You're a Twili?" She said dumbly, meeting his out of place eyes with her own surprised ones. That mark that she'd seen on his chest in her dream was really there, a scar of where the Triforce of Courage was embedded into him.

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" The question in his eyes from that morning was still there, but it was covered by the joy at being home and at getting the better of Zoelda. He held out his robe for her to step into after watching her shiver again. "Here, wear this."

"Don't you need it?" She asked as she gratefully stepped into it, pulling it about herself carefully, trying to avoid stepping on its low back hem.

"Nah," he smiled as he pulled the hood down over her head. "I brought it through for you anyway. It'll keep you warm and concealed from the public as we go to the palace."

"You don't want them to see me?" She gently pushed the hood back a little, so she could see his face clearer. "Why not?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'd love for them to see you." Alarink said slightly too quickly, looking away as he did. "But they'll know exactly who you are when they do, and I think keeping quiet about the return of the Twin line is a good idea here. We don't want a general public outcry against reviving Ganondorf."

"Okay." Zoelda suspected there was slightly more to her concealment than Alarink was letting on, but let it slide as the more pressing question came to her tongue. "So, we don't need to arrange a meeting with Princess Midna at the Palace like we did with Zelda because you're her son?"

" _Queen_ Midna, but yes, that's right. I hope you understand now why I didn't tell you who Mother was before."

"I, I do, I think." She toyed with the belled sleeves as they looked out at the Realm, still not moving from their concealed spot. "But, does everyone else know?"

"Where do you think the name 'Bastard Prince' came from?" He asked her pointedly, watching her reaction closely before he spoke next. "I travelled to Hyrule when I was ten, two years after Father's death, because I wanted to see his world. I went straight to the Castle, dressed in my royal robe but wearing my Hylian skin, and told the Princess and her father who I was. I think you know most of the rest after that, but word got around that I was a Prince in Twilight and practically no one believed it, hence the bad treatment and names."

"Why did you stay?" Zoelda asked, remembering how the Princess had told her about the options she'd given him.

"Many reasons," Alarink's face was lost in thought as he looked out at his Kingdom. "I liked feeling the sun on my skin, for one. I also liked annoying the Princess with my informality to her, that's always fun."

"Is the fact that you're the Prince here the only reason you can get away with that?"

"No, even if I was just Link's wayward son I'd be able to too. Anyone who holds a position of respect can talk how they want to Hyrulian royalty, just look at you and Shad."

"Me?" Asked she in shock.

"Yes. If you weren't her distant cousin, she wouldn't let you ask her half as many questions as you do. And Shad helped stop the Twilight invasion, so he's respected no matter what he says or does. But I," his lips tightened slightly as he spoke, "I'm not respected very much by anyone, here or in Hyrule. I found the treatment of Zelda in Hyrule to be very different to my treatment here, and it confused me. So, I treated her how I have been my entire life, first to make her see things my way and then because I enjoyed it too much to stop."

"You're not respected here, even as royalty?" Zoelda asked, surprised.

"Let's walk a little," Alarink took her arm formally to lead her into the public eye. "Feel free to talk while we walk, but keep your head down and only refer to me as Link. … Or perhaps your Highness, if you prefer."

"I'll stick to Link, thanks."

"Very well," Alarink held himself regally and guided her equally so as they walked slowly towards the Palace.

As they wondered on, he started explaining how the Twili lived. "You see, we Twili are the sons and daughters of criminals. Everyone who originally populated this realm was the worst of the worst when it came to committing offences: Sorcerers, serial killers, rapists, arsonists, serial larcenists, terrorists and treasonists, all of them were sent here to be our parents. As a result, our laws and customs are very different from what you'd expect back in your world. We don't care much how anyone talks to us, and everything you want, you can just take, no money needs to exchange hands. There's no weapons, and fires are near impossible to fuel. We don't believe in marriage, and polygamy in relationships is expected on both sides. The only place we draw the line is rape and terrorism. Anyone who's convicted of rape has their genitals branded, and terrorists - if caught seriously plotting or worse, particularly against the crown - are publicly executed. Our crime rate is exceptionally low as a result.

"The royal family only came about after one madman - my ultimate grandfather, if you will - created a crown for himself and started breaking the knees of anyone who didn't bow to him. His son was a weakling who didn't enforce the rules of the monarchy on anyone and over time people have simply let the Kings or Queens run the logistics of the Kingdom while they go about their own lives. It's rare for a commoner to talk to royalty anymore respectfully than I do to Zeldy on a good day, but they do respect us in their own way, asking for our good opinion or blessing on matters when they see us about town from time to time."

"Do they know about your status in Hyrule?" Zoelda couldn't help but ask as they got closer to the main body of people in front of the palace and word spread of Alarink's early return.

"Oh yes," he chuckled, though there wasn't much joy in the dark little laugh. "They're very happy to see their Queen raised a philanderer. Many were remarkably unhappy that Mother's only vice is how she treats and swears to people - I think they were kinda hoping she'd be a thief."

"Your Highness!" Someone shouted at them then from one of the first stalls in the town before the Palace. He was one of the tall, slim Twili, his limbs black while his chest and head were coloured blue in an hourglass shape. His face was long with two, pupil-less yellow eyes about halfway down and an almost non-existent flat nose and thin mouth. His long body was rather misformed, his arms long and muscular while his legs were short and stumpy, and he was wearing only a brief loincloth, the rest of his exposed body tattooed rather extensively.

As much as he stood out initially to Zoelda as being rather odd looking, a quick glance around the town told her he was much more normal looking here than Alarink was. And, though he was of the taller variety of Twilis, he was still shorter than his Prince, perhaps even an inch shorter than Zoelda herself.

"Hett, my man!" Alarink clasped hands with the Twili and hugged him quickly. "How have you been?"

"I can't complain, Highness." Hett said with a grin that said he had much to complain about. His accent was much stronger than Alarink's, a strange robotic European to her ears.

"Oh, I'm sure you can, shall I give you some time to warm up?" Alarink grinned back. Suddenly, Zoelda realised that, though Alarink's manner of speech had obviously been influenced by Hyrule and his activities there, it was ultimately routed in Twilight.

"No, no, I shouldn't keep you too long," Hett looked over at Zoelda and squinted. "I presume you're not here making a surprise visit for nothing. None of us were expecting to see you again for a few more months."

"Am I really so transparent in my actions?"

"Unfortunately, Highness. But since you are here, might I have your blessing?"

"What with, my good man?" Alarink asked politely.

"Sillo is only a few months away from giving birth, and I doubt I'll see you again before then, so I was wondering if you might give us your regal blessing."

"Of course, you have my hopes for your child to have the muscles needed to keep up the family profession." He said formally, dropping a slight bow as he did. Afterwards, he grinned foolishly and gave him a sly look. "I'm surprised to see you stick with one woman for so long though, Hett. I seem to remember you being quite the scoundrel back in my youth."

"Such high praise, my Prince!" Hett laughed darkly with Alarink. "As much fun as all that was, and I still have my concubine, of course."

"Of course." Alarink agreed, grinning.

"I guess I just found a woman who made me want to turn my attention elsewhere. Perhaps I'll steal for a while, give my kid whatever they want."

"I'm impressed to see such maturity from you, my man." Alarink said with a certain amount of surprise.

"I'm sure you'll understand my view soon enough, Highness." The Twili man gave Zoelda a pointed look before dropping Alarink a wink. "Or perhaps you already do?"

"I might be beginning to mature myself," Alarink said dubiously. "But I think it might still be a while away yet."

"And all of Hyrule will cry the day they lose so fantastic a debaucherer!" Hett laughed again. "Anyway, I believe I've kept you long enough. Shadow speed, your Highness."

"Congratulations, Hett." Alarink said as a way of goodbye and they were off again.

"What was that?" Zoelda asked after they'd made their way a few paces, Alarink making a show of looking at each stall equally as they did.

"That was me performing my royal duty to the blacksmith." Answered he as he appraised fruit at one stand. "He made me my first sword just before I left for Hyrule, so he likes to chat from time to time."

"That sword wouldn't happen to be the short sword you left back in Hyrule, would it?"

"One and the same, Zo. Well done."

She decided not to comment on the slightly condescending way he'd just complimented her as she asked her next question, "Are you respected by anyone?"

"Only the other members of the royal family." Alarink replied as they started up the steps to the incredibly tall Palace. Up close, Zoelda could see that the black walls were draped with two flags, one with the traditional tattoo marks of the Twili royal family, the other with the likeness of the Triforce, the Triforce of Courage outlined with cyan. It was the same banner she had seen in Link's treehouse, one she now knew Alarink had brought to Hyrule with him. "Love and respect… It might be nice to feel those from a commoner one day…"

"I'm sorry to have depressed you…" Zoelda said carefully, looking closely at Alarink's sad eyes.

"Oh no, don't worry about it." He grinned at her suddenly as they reached the top of the stairs outside the Palace. "Besides, I gave up on the opportunity for the standard royal respect when I abdicated my right to the throne eight years ago."

"So, if you abdicated the throne, who's next in line?" Zoelda asked, genuinely curious as they started down the dim, straight corridor to the throne room. Here and there along the corridor were doors leading to one room or another, but Alarink ignored them all on his journey to the heart of the Palace. "Gods, it's not Zant is it?"

"No, Zant's family can't ever be on the throne after what he did." His eyes flashed in anger at Zant's name, but it quickly passed. "After Midna's reign is over, it'll go to my-"

"BROTHER!" Someone screamed from down the hall, causing Zoelda to wince with the pitch of it. Only a few seconds later, a girl no older than 10 came running towards them from down the endless corridor.

She was a tall child, only a head and a half shorter than Zoelda, with soft strawberry blonde curls held up in bunches on either side of her head. Unlike the other Twili, this child was mostly dressed, wearing a short, puffy black dress with a blue under skirt that reached mid-thigh and left her arms below the puffy shoulders bare, a simple ruby set in the centre of the garment. On her ankles were the same kind of thin silver anklets that Alarink had, and on her forehead was a circlet of silver with three loops on top of it, looking a great deal like a tiara with its ruby in the centre loop. Her skin was mostly blue with only the tops of her arms being black and the bottoms of her legs and bare feet, tattooed here and there with the same markings as Alarink. And her eyes, hidden among the dark eye-shadow, were a deep, rich blue.

The girl's arms were expectantly outstretched as she ran directly towards Alarink, who was watching her with shock up until the last possible moment when he knelt down to scoop her up in his arms to swing her around. The two of them laughed gleefully as he spun her, holding her tight against him.

It was perhaps the first time that Zoelda had heard Alarink laugh without any trace of self-mocking or darkness. This was a pure, unadulterated laughter, one that she didn't quite expect from so broken a man, and certainly not one she expected to come out in response to hugging a child.

He finally put the girl down on her feet again, ruffling her hair ruefully as they grinned at each other. Then, Alarink got down on one knee, put his left hand over his heart and bowed his head in an elegant bow of profound respect. All the while, Zoelda stood to the side awkwardly watching as he interacted with the child.

"Your Highness." Alarink said seriously.

The girls replied with a deep curtsey, bowing her head in similar profound respect to his. "Your Highness." She replied equally seriously, her voice light and as little accented as Alarink's.

They both raised their heads to look seriously into each other's eyes before breaking into laughter again a few moments later. The girl skipped over and sat on Alarink's raised knee, staring adoringly at him as she did. A small part of Zoelda twisted uncomfortably at the way the girl looked at him, an unfamiliar twist of jealousy taking route in her being that she knew was wildly unnecessary yet couldn't help.

"Mina," said Alarink, ruffling the girl's hair and getting up. "How have you been?"

"Not too bad," the girl said, rocking back and forth on her heels as she spoke. Suddenly, she stuck out her tongue. "Mother's making me learn how the Kingdom works though. It's soooo boring…"

"I remember that," he winked at her. "It was one of the reasons I ran to Hyrule."

"It's a shame I can't do that…" Mina sighed.

"Hey, I'm sure we can arrange something if you really want to."

"Nah," she brightened quickly, grinning up at Alarink as she did. "I don't think I do. Being royalty might be boring and all, but if I go to Hyrule, I won't be able to steal stuff without people getting angry at me!"

"And Twilight will rejoice that they'll have a thief on the throne once again!" Alarink laughed that pure laugh of his again, ruffling Mina's hair once more to her annoyance.

"Hey!" Mina giggled before pouting. The little Princess was absolutely adorable, Zoelda had to admit as she watched her interact with Alarink. "Why are you here now anyway, Link? Mother said you wouldn't be returning for another few months."

"Something came up that I need to discuss with her," he answered simply, glancing over at the still hooded figure of Zoelda as he did.

"More like _someone_ came up," Mina said in response, smiling slyly at the other girl.

"Cheeky." Alarink laughed at her, negligently pulling down Zoelda's hood as he did. The brunette jumped a little in surprise as he did that, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to him a moment after. "Mina, this is Zelda. Zelda, this is my little sister, Princess Mina."

Mina gasped at Zoelda's name, a hand covering her mouth in surprise as she saw the way her brother was holding her. "The Hyrulian Princess?!"

"Ah, no, your Highness," Zoelda answered delicately, not wanting to overstep or upset the girl. "I'm just someone else called Zelda."

"Oh, I didn't think anyone else was allowed to be called Zelda in Hyrule… But oh well! Hi, call me Mina!" The young girl hugged her tightly and enthusiastically, leaving Zoelda feeling a little awkward as she patted her on the back.

"Well, now that the introductions are out of the way, shall we head to the throne room? You might have just gotten up, but it's already been a very full day for us." Alarink said, not moving his arm from around Zoelda's shoulders.

"Okay!" Mina took her brother's free right hand and skipped along the hall, pulling him along at her pace. "I should warn you though, Mother's in a meeting right now, and I don't think the man she's meeting with will like it if you interrupt it."

"He doesn't have to like it, does he?" He winked at her again, and she giggled.

"You never told me you have a sister," Zoelda hissed slightly accusingly at him as they walked.

"I was about to when she appeared," hissed he back calmly. "I'm sure you can understand why this is something I want to keep from becoming public knowledge in Hyrule. Mina understands very little about the Kingdom, so she wouldn't know why she'd be treated badly as a result of our father. It's better for them not to know about her, or her to know what they do to me."

"You can only keep her ignorant for so long, Alarink." She warned as they approached the final flight of stairs into the Throne room.

"I know." He sighed. "But, I trust you to keep this to yourself when we go back."

It wasn't a question asking whether she would, it was a statement of his trust in her to keep the matter to herself. It made her feel slightly giddy that he trusted her. Particularly with a secret of this magnitude. Her giddiness almost immediately faded as Mina pushed open the door to the Throne room, pulling them in behind her.

It was a long, narrow room with no windows since they would let in no light, filled with only a large throne on the back wall flanked by the same two banners she'd seen outside. The floor was marked with the same royal tattoos as Alarink and Mina and there were guards stationed below torches at prominent points around the room. As they entered, all of their hands flew to their weapons, only to be stilled when they saw who was walking in. The face of the short, orange eyed Twili before the throne as they entered was stormy while the woman on the throne sat up straight and paid attention for the first time that day.

Queen Midna had not changed much over the score of years. There was no grey in her bright ginger hair and only a few laughter lines by her eyes. She wore a high necked, oriental style black dress decorated with the patterns of the Twili and slit from the hip down the right side to reveal her entire right leg. She wore the same royal robe she'd worn the last time Zoelda had seen her in her game, hooded with the hair arranged above it in the same way it was now, though the rest of her hair was allowed to fall down her back rather than being held on her chest.

As they had entered, she had been lounging unimpressed on her throne, her eyes clouded with thoughts of a time and a place elsewhere. Now, she sat more alert, her eyes looking from her son to Zoelda and back again, a question in them much different to the one that Alarink addressed to Zoelda in his all day. It was a question of _who is this? Why is she important enough to interrupt a meeting for?_

The same question was in the orange eyed Twili's eyes as he looked at the group, though his were raging while the Queen's were curious.

"Why are you people coming it here? This is a private meeting, you can't be here!" Orange eyes shouted at them.

"Be silent, you idiot." Midna said simply to him, her eyes very curiously regarding at the trio in the entrance. Her voice was similarly accented to her children's and rich in tone. "Can't you see that my son has returned with a woman under his arm?"

"No offence, your Majesty," the Twili began to counter. "But from what I've heard about your son, the fact that he has a woman under his arm doesn't impress me."

"Quite frankly, idiot," Alarink snapped at him, not removing his arm from Zoelda as he moved to stand only a few paces away from him. "You don't impress me either. And I can promise that my returning to this realm is far more important than whatever you're discussing with Mother."

"Also," Midna interjected. "While we are all aware of Link's penchant for whoring, this is the first time he's ever brought one back to the Twilight Realm. I'd like to know what makes this one special more than I'd like to know about your plans for trade with the Gorons."

"Zoras." Orange eyes amended quietly.

"Leave my hall, Nackt. We can discuss this again when my son is not in Realm."

Nackt turned muttering and left the hall quickly, glaring at Alarink with pure malice as he passed. The Prince simply watched him go with a grin before turning his attention back to his mother. "He seems great."

"Nackt's an arse wrapped in a bow of shit." Midna said eloquently, providing an image in Zoelda's mind that she suspected she'd never unsee as she started down from her throne. The Queen stopped once to kiss her daughter gently on the way to Alarink, who she tore from around Zoelda's shoulders and brought in for an almost possessive hug. It was then that the brunette noticed Midna was a half a head taller than her son.

In all the time she'd known him, Zoelda had thought Alarink a very tall Hylian, now she realised he was actually a slightly short Twili royal.

"Ma, need… air…" Alarink joked, patting his mother's shoulder to make her let go from her lingering, uncomfortably directed at Zoelda, hug. As she let go, the Queen finally turned her attention fully to the young woman and raised an eyebrow.

"Who's the slut?" She asked, getting to the point immediately.

"Mother!" He shouted a little petulantly. "Be nice. I wouldn't bring one of my consorts into your Kingdom, I know better than that."

"I don't like her." Midna leant down to Zoelda's height and poked her collar bone angrily. "Who gave you the right to wear a royal robe?"

"Mother." Alarink tried to get her attention, his voice stern as he watched her interact with Zoelda from a few feet away, knowing better than to directly interfere with the Queen. "I gave it to her, it's mine. She was cold while we were walking to the Palace."

"Oh, so this is the whore you've chosen to marry, huh?" Asked his mother, taking what Zoelda suspected to be a rather big leap from borrowing a cloak to marriage. She willed her blush to die even as it crept to her already sun flushed cheeks. "I suppose she's not too bad, a little skinny and not quite as big busted as I'd like, but she's got sharp eyes and a good face, I suppose."

"Mother. Zelda's the product of the lost Twin line." Alarink said, breaking all pretences. There was a slight colouring to his blue and Zoelda couldn't help but notice that he hadn't denied the prospect of marriage.

Mina gasped from behind her brother, staring at Zoelda with wide eyes. It appeared that everyone had prior knowledge to the Twin line but the product of it herself.

"What, that brat of a Princess?" Midna asked, taking the young woman's chin between her thumb and forefinger to get a better look at her face. "I find that hard to believe."

"No, Mother, the Zelda you're currently manhandling." He answered firmly.

"What?" She turned to look sharply at her son, not quite comprehending, it seemed.

"The woman who's face you're smooshing is Zelda, the final product of the Twin line." Alarink said more clearly, taking her hand in his to activate the Triforce and prove it. As he did, Zoelda noticed a curious golden flash over the scar cutting his torso so distinctly into two.

"No shit," the Queen of the Twili muttered to herself, looking at Zoelda once more before letting go and turning to her daughter. "Mina, would you show our guest around? I'm sure she's just _dying_ to see the rest of the palace, particularly the balcony. Be a good girl and take her up onto the balcony after the tour, we'll meet you there a little later."

Zoelda was particularly uncomfortable with the way that the Queen had said 'dying', but let it slide as the Princess took her hand and obediently lead her away from the Throne room.

"Guards, go with them. Don't let anything happen to either of them. And two of you stand guard outside the door to this room, I want no eavesdroppers while I talk to Link." Midna ordered the Twili guards, who saluted and began to move.

With one glance back over her shoulder before they crossed through the doors, Zoelda caught Alarink's pale eyes with hers and saw the soft smile in them, that resigned to his fate smile she'd seen in her dream the night before. Uncomfortable by the pure vulnerability and acceptance in it, she turned away, lead on by his little sister to a clearly diversionary tour of the Palace.

* * *

Alarink sighed as he watched the Throne room doors clang shut, trapping him in the room with his mother to face whatever she had to shout at him.

He did love his mother, and sister; they were the only things that had always drawn him back to this realm. Though he never let on, he had truly come to hate the Twilight Realm over the years he'd lived away from it. Whenever he was there, he missed the presence of the sun, the cycle of day and night, the heat and the cold that marked life in Hyrule. He much preferred the company of people who were similarly proportioned, though shorter than him, in Hyrule and the name calling that he so hated back there seemed to grate on him more in his prolonged absences than it did in his presence.

And then there was that continuous reminder of his destiny on his chest that was so much more obvious in the half nude society of the Twili than it was when he covered it with clothes or lovers back in Hyrule.

But, even still, he was always drawn back to the Kingdom that was rightfully his to rule one day, if he wanted it. He was always drawn back to his remaining family.

So, he put on his best grin and turned to face his angry mother.

"So, how's Mina doing with the royal duties?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest as she turned to glare at him.

"Don't you dare change the subject, Link." She said icily. "Since when have you given into your stupid, preordained fate?"

"Oh, a few days ago," he answered with a flip of the wrist. "I met a Sheikah who me told how to prepare for it in more detail."

"Impax, that cow…"

"You know Impax?" Asked he, a little surprised.

"Yes, I met her a few years after you were born. She was the one who told me about your part in all this." Midna turned away from him and started back to her throne. "Carry on with your story of acceptance."

"Well, there's not all that much more to it." Alarink followed after her setting himself down on the step leading up to the throne and half turning to talk to her as he did. "I was sceptical about all this destiny talk, so on the ride back to Ordona, Impax arranged for Zoelda to arrive and be put in danger for me to save her. After that, I just accepted this was my part to play in Hyrule's history and began preparing myself for it."

"And this Zoelda is the brunette slut from just now?"

"Don't call her a slut, Mother," he winced slightly at the branding of her. After last night, he knew she was anything but and didn't like the idea of her being talked about so flippantly, especially by his own mother. After spending the whole night trying to figure out that new emotion he felt for her, he had pointedly turned his back on the whole matter and refused to believe it. "But yes, Zoelda is the code name I gave her so people think she's just another woman named after the Princesses of legend."

"And you've slept with her?" His mother was never one to beat around the bush with her questioning.

"No, actually, I haven't." Alarink answered with a sigh, not of lust but of annoyance in his mother for seeing through him already.

"Perhaps that's the problem." Midna thought aloud as she settled herself more comfortably on the throne. "If you had already banged this out, perhaps you wouldn't feel so willing to give up before you've even started."

"I don't sexual frustration is the issue here, Mother."

"No, I think you mistaking lust for love is the issue here, Link." She stared him in his odd Hylian eyes as she said it, causing him to blush in embarrassment and anger. 'Love' was the one word he wanted to avoid using when thinking about Zoelda, it had been difficult for him to even remotely discuss it on the way to the Palace earlier.

"You always had the opposite issue with Father, didn't you?" Alarink asked her acidly, knowing it would do his cause more harm than good to say. "You mistook your love for him as lust until the day he died, when it was too late for you to say otherwise."

"You over step your boundaries, Link." She replied harshly, though not denying the fact anymore than he had denied that he lusted after Zoelda.

"My apologies," said Alarink after a pause. "I've been arguing with the Princess a lot recently, it's making me hotheaded. But, you're not denying my claim."

"And you're not mine."

"Alright, Mother, fine." He stood up and turned to face her, his eyes glossy and hands trembling as he tried to force his blush down and his voice to hold steady.

"In the beginning, I did. I lusted after Zoelda the way I do with all beautiful people.

"But, do you know what she did on the first day I knew her? She saw right through me, she saw me for me, outside all the flirting and sarcasm. And you know what else she did? She told me her story, she opened her heart and poured out the story of her mother for me, just because I asked her to.

"I was so overwhelmed by her that I had to leave her in Father's treehouse alone for the night because she scared me. I went and began my purification in Faron Spring overnight and returned in the morning to find her not there. I almost had a heart attack, Mother, I was so worried about her. And then I found the note she left me in perfect written Hylian - a language not native to her realm - because she didn't want me to worry.

"It was on that second day that I realised just how spectacular she was, Mother.

"She played the Song of the Hero on a harp no bigger than the palm of Mina's hand, humming beautifully under breath beneath the light filtering through leaves on a tree. I had never experienced anything so beautiful. Then she knocked me off my feet in an impromptu duel. I had never been bested in any duel, impromptu or otherwise until then, Mother! It was insane! Then, on her first ever solo horse ride, she shot down a monster on instruction and killed a second that got a jump on me. She saved my life, Mother!

"Zelda stuck with me the whole way through a particularly bad journey in Hyrule Town, didn't even freak out as I teased Alarink and the Princess in her Castle, and then had the guts to ask me if I was royalty on her second day of knowing me. She almost sussed me out on her second day, Mother, it was incredible!

"I began thinking about her too much that night, so I grabbed a Zora and 'banged one out' as you put it. But when the morning came, she was still on my mind. So much so that I wrote her a 'good luck with Zelda' letter. The idea of her having to spend the whole day with the Princess bothered me almost as much as the idea of me not spending the morning with her did.

"I'd known her two days by then, Mother, and I couldn't picture my life without her.

"I went to get the Zora's blessing that day, I went into Zora's Domain and presented myself before King Ralis. That was the first time I realised that I was willing to give in to my destiny.

"I told him I would die to secure his blessing, and I don't believe I lied to him. I would die time and time again if it meant Hyrule could be at peace, if it meant Zoelda could get back to her world and be with the people she loved.

"I went to Zora's Domain that third day, Mother, and I didn't fuck anyone while I was there.

"I left as soon as I was done because I wanted to see the look on her face when she met Impax - a woman she had told me she thought of as her aunt back home. A woman she had thought died with her mother. I arrived to hear the tag end of Impax telling her about the Pestilence, about how Father had accidentally bought it to the world and killed so many - her mother included. She should have hated me for that alone, for Father causing her mother's death. But she didn't. She listened as I told her about the Twin line, about her destiny, and she gave herself so completely to it after that that both myself and the Princess couldn't help but do the same.

"It was on the third night that I gave up on changing my destiny.

"We had to meet Shad in Kakariko's graveyard to ensure a lift into the desert, and she read the Pestilence monument while Shad and I spoke. I think she believed me that you were alive then, Mother, I think she began to understand that no one trusted me then, Mother. I think that was when she began to pity me. And if it wasn't then, it was certainly after our late dinner. I was still giddy from such a good day, at having finally told Zelda of her part in all this, that I pushed too hard in an argument with the Princess that night.

"I was so afraid she was disappointed in me for losing an argument that I went and hid in my room. I couldn't stop thinking about her the whole time I waited for her and the others to get to their rooms so I could go and purify myself in Eldin Spring. She was all I could think about the whole time I was purifying myself. I kept reminding myself I was doing this for her, that if I was going to die, it would be for her sake, more than Hyrule's.

"On the fourth day, I found out she was single.

"My heart sang. I was so over joyed that I forgot that I reminded her momentarily of someone she seemed to hate. I flirted with her over breakfast, showing off my monster killing prowess as we travelled to Gerudo, enjoying every minute that she defiantly hummed the Song of the Hero with me after lunch, and loathed the way that she hugged Shad after he told her he knew her mother.

"Fuck it, Mother, do you have any idea how annoying it is to hate the one person you trust more than anyone in Hyrule because he hugs the girl you like? The girl you're just starting to realise you can't see yourself spending a day without?

"And do you know how hard it is to see that girl suffer under Ganondorf's control? To see her writhe in pain on the floor of the desert in a sandstorm of his creation as he takes full control of her mind? Do you know, Mother? Do you know that she tried to kill me? Alarink even tried to stop her for me, but I told him not to. If I was going to go by Ganondorf's hand, I rather go by his hand controlling her. At least that way I'd see something beautiful before I died.

"But, you know what, Mother? Do. You. Know. _WHAT_?

"She broke free. She screamed in defiance and ran, breaking free of Ganondorf's control of her.

"I was so proud of her, Mother! So incredibly proud of her! And then I panicked. I thought she might have fallen off some edge in the desert somewhere, that all this destiny bullshit was for naught.

"On the fourth night, I thought I'd lost her forever. And that thought scared me more than the thought of me dying did.

"But I found her. She was injured, you probably saw the bite on her leg yourself, so I treated her. That night, we had a heart to heart. I told her things about myself I've never told anyone, and she did the same. I've never truly trusted anyone in Hyrule before then, and now I can't imagine a time in my life where I don't trust her. A time in my life where she's not been a constant questioning presence at my side. And, oh Farore, Mother, she trusted me too! She told me things I won't repeat so I don't betray her trust. But she told me things she's never told anyone.

"She told me that the horrible guy I reminded her of was a momentary brain lapse, that I was much better than him. Oh, Mother, how I loved hearing that!

"And it was on that fourth night, last night incidentally, that I didn't sleep.

"I was too busy watching the moonlight dance on her skin. Watching her dream, praying to all the Goddesses it was of me. I watched the moon leach the black from her hair, turning it a Hylian gold and knowing that, even if I could never sleep with her, it was enough to sleep next to her.

"It was then that I realised I had to bring her with me to the Twilight Realm. Not to prove my cause to you. Not to show her off to you. Not to do anything more than know that she was by my side always. To know that I was taking her somewhere I could be sure she wouldn't be killed.

"It was this morning, while I was arguing with the Princess over the matter of her not coming here while Zelda could, that I realised that the only place I wouldn't take her was somewhere she might die.

"Mother, it was this morning that I realised I no longer lusted for her.

"I've spent my entire day climbing stairs in a gruelling heat. I spent time parkouring to secure a path for the others. I spent so, _so_ much time arguing. I finally told and showed her that I'm Twili royalty. I told her what that meant. I lent her my cloak to wear through town, fully knowing that that implies she is being kept hidden from the public eye lest they look upon the one I intend to spend my life with. We might not have marriage here, Mother, but I practically implied I was bound to her as we walked through town arm in arm. As I walked into the Throne room with my arm around her.

"I've spent my entire day trying to keep myself _from_ thinking one thing. And I've done everything in my power _to_ keep myself thinking that one thing.

"Mother. … Mother. Mother, I love her.

"I would die for her as many times as it takes to get it right. I would lie to her my entire life it that made her happy. I would cut off my arm and give it to the Princess and 'Link' as a wedding present if she asked it of me. I probably wouldn't even hesitate.

"If she tells me to leave her alone, I'll leave her alone. But every day of my life from now that she's not in is a day that Ganon wins.

"It has taken me every ounce of my self-control not to kiss her until my lungs collapse. It has taken my breath away how she cannot see what she's done to me.

"And if one day she returns to her world, if one day she asks me to come with her there, I would say yes without a second thought.

"Goddesses, I love her.

"I love her…

"I, I love Zelda.

"And Mother, please. Please tell me you'll give me the blessing to revive Ganondorf. Please tell me I can take the Master Sword from him. Please tell me, please, _please_ tell me, you'll give me your blessing to take him down one last time.

"I know you'll lose me. I, I can understand now how much that will hurt you. But please.

"Please, Mother.

"I'm not giving into my destiny. I'm doing this for Zelda.

"Please let me do this for her.

"I love her."

Alarink was looking at the floor as he spoke those three words one last time. If he tried to plead again, his voice would crack and the tears that had threatened to fall since he began would come streaming all too quickly. He'd tried so hard, so, _so_ hard not to tell himself he loved her, but as soon as he'd admitted it, it had felt like a weight off his shoulders.

He had never felt so honest, as he admitted that to his mother.

And now he stood, his eyes pinched shut to stop the threatening tears before they started, his whole body shaking with the effort of keeping them at bay. But at least he'd said his peace before his mother turned him down.

Then there were arms about him, pulling him close in an embrace.

He didn't need to open his eyes to know who it was as she started stroking her fingers through his naturally ginger locks; as she rested her chin on top of his head, cooing to him as she had when he'd learnt his father had died.

Wrapping his arms around Midna, he whimpered once before the tears over flowed. Then he was a childish, blubbering mess as he gripped his mother for dear life. She was his rock against the flood of his tears, and yet she was holding back her own, he knew.

If she said yes to him, if she gave him the Twilight Blessing, she was sending her son in on a suicide mission. There was no way she would-

"Yes." Midna whispered to him gently as his tears began to subside. "I will miss you every day of the rest of my life. I will move Twilight away from Hyrule's time so that we live independent of it, so that I can hear as soon as possible if you have lived. But I will give you my blessing to revive Ganondorf. Take that sword to kill him."

"Mother…" Alarink sniffed as he pulled away from her, looking her in her strong, tear clouded eyes, knowing she meant that from the bottom of her heart. "Thank you."

"Don't make the same mistake I did, Link." Midna said as she pulled him back in for another hug, not wanting her son to see her cry. "Tell her you love her before you die, don't live the rest of your life in regret because you're a too proud Twili."

"Hey, who knows," he laughed gently into her shoulder, though it was an awkward laugh of no real amusement. There was no more conviction in his laugh than there was in his next statement. "I might even live."

* * *

 _AN:_

 _There are so many things I wanted to say here, so many things I know I should say here. Instead I'm going to say this:_

 _This was the last chapter I wrote before I went to University._

 _The day after I wrote this chapter I broke up with my boyfriend. The week after I wrote this chapter I was living alone for the first time in a new city and attending a University that made me feel stupid. In the two months I spent there, I made some amazing friendships that I am already losing due to the distance between us. In the two months before I dropped out, I had never felt so depressed, so invalid, so incredibly dumb. In the two months I spent there, I experienced many things, but the one I remember the most - nearly three months later - is the bleak depression that I'm still trying to overcome._

 _And in the two months I spent there, I had no time to write._

 _In those two months, this story nearly got dropped on my unfinished pile like so many others._

 _And despite the fact that its not being well received, despite the fact that I know no one is reading this note, I just want everyone to know how much this particular chapter means to me._

 _In my mind, this chapter was the peak of the mountain, it was a down hill ski from here to the finish line. If I hadn't written this chapter before I broke up with my ex, if I hadn't finished it in a day or before I went to uni, this story would have never been finished. And if this story had never been finished, I might not have written anything else ever again._

 _If I hadn't finished this I might have given up on my dream of being a writer._

 _Now it's nearly 3 months since I finished the story - the last 5 chapters all being finished in a week of this being uploaded for the first time. Since I finished writing this, I wrote and submitted my first script in a competition. I've written three more pieces of fanfiction that are doing better than this one is._

 _In the nearly 3 months since I finished this, so much has changed but my mental state stays the same as I now combat unemployment. And honestly, one of the only things keeping me sane is the fact that I get to come back and read this every week as I edit it._

 _No one may be reading this, no one may be enjoying it; but I am._

 _And as long as I live this story will stay with me as the first one I was truly proud of, the first one I planned, the first one I finished. The one that I had to finish in order to write and submit my script without guilt. The one with first character that has stayed with me and even influenced me in my day to day life._

 _So, if you're still with me after the nearly 9000 words that was chapter 12, thank you._

 _I hope that this story brings you some of the joy it brings me, and if not, I hope it can at least be a distraction._

 _I hope to see you again next week, may it be a better one for all of us._

 _~WWQ_


	14. 13 The Master Sword

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _13\. The Master Sword_

The whole while Mina was giving her a tour of the strangely convoluted halls of the Palace, Zoelda feigned interest, her mind elsewhere. She really did try to listen to everything the enthusiastic little Princess told her about each room they went through, but she couldn't seem to focus for long enough to hear the end of every sentence. It was not only the exhaustion at having been awake and active for what had to be around twenty hours now, it was also the gnawing feeling that something was very different about Alarink - and not just in his appearance.

While she was now certain that finding out about Alarink's lineage was the big thing that was going to happen in Gerudo, she couldn't help but feel there was an even bigger revelation about him yet to come. And while she really hadn't known him all that long - less than a week in fact, which surprised her a great deal - she had come to care for him in her own way, and the idea that he had secrets left to reveal made her slightly uncomfortable.

Especially since he'd been acting so out of character.

Zoelda had him pegged as someone who enjoyed putting himself in danger, heedless of his own life in the face of monsters. Now something had changed. It wasn't that he was more cautious, it was more like he was saving his dying for later. Even on their way to Arbiter's earlier, he had sworn and blustered his way through skirmishes with Moldorm, but there had been something different in those encounters, something profound.

And Zoelda suspected that something had to do with the question that had lingered behind his eyes all day.

As Mina - still holding her hand and grinning all unaware - lead them and the half a dozen guards who were ordered to follow them through another door, Zoelda pondered that question again. While she couldn't for the life of her figure out what he was silently asking, she did have a few suspicions. And while that silent question and her suspicions had been on her mind most of the day, there was also the matter of her dream and that cut across his chest.

That clear diagonal bisection of his Twili skin nagged at Zoelda, teasing her with almost understanding. It clearly had to do with the Triforce, that much was obvious from how it had glowed when their respective hands had, but it also seemed to have another purpose. The more she thought about it and her dream, the more she came to think it had something to do with their final showdown with Ganondorf, and, more importantly, Alarink's part in it.

Since she found out about her part in this, about their mission to take down Ganondorf once and for all, really, she had assumed it would involve Alarink putting the Master Sword through his chest again with the two broken pieces of Triforce in the room with him. As she thought about it know, she realised that assumption was faulty, there was going to have to be something far more momentous happening in that final confrontation than that to make sure Ganondorf was completely gone.

And not knowing what that was going to be set her on edge.

"And, finally," Mina said as she let go of Zoelda's hand for the first time in tour. The lack of grip on her hand drew her back to reality as she watched the young girl grab two door handles in front of her and swing a pair of heavy double doors open with surprising ease. As the doors swung open, the young Twili princess span around to look at the other girl with a huge, bright grin. "This is the balcony of the Palace!"

The balcony was large enough to be a room in and of itself, railed off with an intricate blue and black fence, the likeness of the Triforce in the middle of the fence. There were no chairs or tables or the like on the balcony, a fact that lead Zoelda to suspect this was a ceremonial balcony rather than a functional one, and the sky and city just beyond the rail were as black and murky as one would expect from the Twilight Realm. In fact, the city itself was so covered in shadow that she could barely make out anything more than the occasional flash of blue skin as small as an ant in the city below.

It wasn't the height or the sight before her that boggled her mind, it was the fact that she was standing on the ceremonial balcony of the Palace of Twilight, still wearing Alarink's robe, now with the hood down and around her shoulders. She hated to admit it, but she felt an awful lot like she was on display as Alarink's chosen conquest then, looking down on the people he could have one day ruled with her by his side.

That last thought stopped her short.

A few days ago, she didn't even know Alarink. She had thought the Palace of Twilight and Hylians were all things out of her games, made up by the conjoined imaginations of a group of Japanese men. Now, she was stood overlooking the realm of Twilight, vaguely wondering what it would be like to be their queen in some alternate universe.

Zoelda was a little worried about how much that thought appealed to her.

"So," Mina galloped over to where the other girl stood, folding her arms behind her back and looking up at her with giant, innocent blue eyes that, for some reason, looked less out of place than her brother's. "What do you think?"

"It's, it's, um, very impressive." Zoelda tried to bring her mind back to more rational thoughts, but a part of her still spent time wondering 'what if?' "And this will all be yours someday?"

"Yeah." The girl made a face as she stood next to Zoelda, crossing her arms over the tall railing. The brunette glanced back then, trying to gauge how much the obtrusive guards by the doors would hear of their conversation. "It wasn't exactly my choice though."

"You don't want to rule the Twili?" Asked Zoelda, somewhat surprised to hear that.

"It's not that," Mina rested her head against her crossed arms as she unseeingly stared at the realm before her. "It's just that I wasn't meant to rule, you know?"

"You've only earnt your place as the heiress to the throne because Ala- Link doesn't want it?"

"Exactly. I mean, Link was already gone to Hyrule by the time I started to remember things, so I suppose I should be used to the fact that I was always next in line, but it doesn't make it easy."

"Link was already gone by the time you started retaining memories?" Zoelda was a little shocked by that. She knew she shouldn't be, since the girl before her was barely over 10, but it struck her as strange all the same.

"Yeah," sighed Mina, still not looking at Zoelda. "I only see him a few times a year. That's why I love it so much when he makes a surprise visit."

"Did you not know your father, then?" She asked before she realised it might be a hard question for the girl to answer.

"No." Mina answered flatly. "He died before I was born, that's why no one in Hyrule knows I exist."

"Are you not allowed to visit Hyrule?"

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you?" The girl turned to her with a grin, though there was also genuine curiosity behind it.

"Sorry," Zoelda lamely apologised. "I'm a curious sort…"

"It's fine!" Mina reassured her, taking her hand as she grinned again. It was the kind of innocent and loving face that Twilis lost as the grew older and Hylians retained so long as they stayed innocent at heart. Zoelda could tell that Mina was going to be a good thief with a face like that, people would automatically trust her because of it and her royal status. The girl could probably steal a house, its contents and the family it belonged to and get away with it with a face like that. "So am I! No, I've never visited Hyrule."

"I'm sorry about that." Zoelda mentally berated herself for all her lame apologies.

"It's not your fault!" Mina laughed before making a face again. "It's Link's if anyones. He doesn't want me to be treated the same way he is. He wants me to grow up loved in Twilight rather than have to face the people in Hyrule as Father's bastard daughter."

"You're not missing much, Princess." Shuddered Zoelda as she remembered how Alarink was treated back in Hyrule, of how much he wanted to keep his sister's life a secret from everyone in Hyrule. It was all too clear that he loved his little sister, just by how protective he was of her never going to the realm in which he had set up his home.

"Well, either way, it's not like I know what I'm missing, is it?" Mina pointed out maturely as she turned back from looking at the city to look Zoelda full in the face again. "Plus, Link kept his promise to introduce me to the best Hylian one day!"

Zoelda self-consciously tucked a dark strand of hair behind her pointed ear, blushing slightly that the girl would think of her as the best Hylian. "Oh, I'm no-"

"There you are." Midna said, striding onto the balcony with Alarink right behind her. They both looked a little red eyed and Alarink's looked very haunted behind his constant grin. The haunting definitely had something to do with that question in his eye, because it had changed it to an answer, an assurance on something that Zoelda wasn't sure she liked.

"Where did you think we were, Mother?" Mina asked her with a grin, galloping over to her and wrapping her arms around her. "You told us to wait out on the balcony for you and Link!"

"I suppose I did, didn't I?" Midna absently ran a hand through her daughter's hair as she looked out over the shadows that were her kingdom. There was definitely something about her that was significantly different than an hour or so before. Then she'd been somewhat the Midna that Zoelda remembered from the Twilight Era, now she was more pensive and thoughtful, emotions the brunette didn't necessarily associate with the Queen of Twilight. Obviously, the private discussion between mother and son had been significant, since Alarink was equally quiet, though his emotions were harder to read. Even in his natural Twili form, Alarink was in total control of the emotions he showed.

Old habits of hiding his feelings from Hylians seemed to die hard.

Midna took Mina's hand in hers and walked over to stand next Zoelda at the railing, looking out on her kingdom of Twilight in silence. The mood the Queen brought with her was as heavy and oppressive as the shadows covering the kingdom, and just as difficult to break free of. After a few moments of standing a little ways back, Alarink walked up to stand on the other side of Zoelda, crossing his arms over the railing and looking over the dark horizon.

Covertly watching him out the corner of her eye, Zoelda was a little surprised to note the tear tracks hiding on his cheeks and ginger stubble, and even more so to notice the unshed ones standing in his eyes as he stared into nothing. Those pale eyes of his that were so peculiar in his Twili form were perhaps even harder to read now than they were back in Hyrule, though the haunting and unwavering answer to the question that had stood there since the morning was still there, looking perhaps worse now than it did an hour or so earlier.

Then he shuddered, turning his back on the shadows of Twilight and walking back a ways with his arms crossed.

"You alright?" Zoelda moved to stand next to him, weighing up whether or not to comfortingly put a hand on his shoulder as she asked.

"Yeah. _*ahem*_ Yeah, I'm fine." Alarink muttered, shifting his weight from foot to foot in uncharacteristic unease. He shuddered again, running his hand across his face after he did.

"Are you sure?" Asked she, a part of her wanting to tease him a little, though more of her was concerned with the odd way he was acting.

"Yeah! Yeah, no." Finally, he looked at her for the first time since he came to the balcony, seeing all the compassion and concern in her dark eyes and noting the sincerity of her question. Then he laughed, a nervous, almost hyperventilating laugh that Zoelda knew all too well from when she tried to laugh off tears. The grin wavered and tears stood plainly in his eyes as he put on a brave face.

Then he hiccupped, tried to look away and muttered, "No. No, I'm not fine."

Suddenly, Zoelda took him in her arms, holding him close and consolingly stroking his back. After a few bemused seconds, he hugged her back, silently sobbing into her shoulder as he did.

While the embrace had been spontaneous and only meant to last a few consoling seconds, Zoelda found herself not wanting to let go even after Alarink stopped sobbing and shaking. She continued to rub his back as his grip on her loosened from fearful to comforting.

Though she had never been a hugger, Zoelda had to say she wouldn't have minded holding onto Alarink a few moments longer than when he broke it off. There was a strange pang in her chest as he let go, one of regret that she couldn't quite understand.

However, she was anything but regretful or sad as she saw the genuine, though wavering smile on his face and his still wet but no longer haunted eyes. "Thank you." He said simply.

"Anytime." Replied Zoelda, a simple smile in her features.

"… Hey! I got the Twili blessing, we can go get the Sword and finish this now!" He suddenly grinned, a grin that filled her with uncertainty. Not at the fact that it was an obvious fake smile, but at the fact that she wasn't sure she wanted it to be over.

When it ended, she'd have to go back to her world and say goodbye to Alarink, something she really didn't like the idea of. Worse, as her eyes drifted to the line bisecting his chest, she suspected that the parting between her and Alarink would be a little more permanent than crossing the boundaries of worlds that Zoelda now knew she could cross again anytime.

"…Why are you looking at my chest again?" He asked her after a moment, causing her to flush ever so slightly as she realised she'd been a little more obvious than she'd intended to be. "Seriously, Zo, what's the deal with you and my chest today? Did our conversation last night pique your interest?"

Flushing even brighter at the suggestiveness of that statement and the memory of opening up to him the night before, Zoelda turned away and began to pull off his cloak from her shoulders.

"Ooh, steady!" He grinned. "While I like where this is going, do you think we could go somewhere where my mother, sister and a regiment of royal guards _aren't_ to carry on this line of thought?"

"Don't be stupid, Link." She tried to fold the cloak into some semblance of neatness before giving up, balling it up and shoving it towards him, hoping her cheeks weren't too obviously red still as she looked away. "I noticed you were quite cold when I was hugging you and thought you needed this more than I do at the moment."

"I'm always cold, Zelda." Replied he, taking the cloak and putting it on anyway.

"Perhaps you shouldn't spend so much time half naked then."

"Touché." Alarink said as he settled the hood around his shoulders and allowed the front to waterfall down. It appeared to be tailor made for him, fitting him closely and enhancing his natural skin colours and shape. Quite a contrast to how bulky it had looked on Zoelda.

"I've just let Mina know that we're going down to the city to retrieve the Sword and Ganondorf's spirit." Midna said as she came over to them, her face still sad and her hand in her daughter's. "She's going to grab her cloak and come with us."

"I'd rather not make a ceremony out of this, Mother." Alarink protested as they made their way back into the Palace, Mina leading the way to her quarters to grab her version of what Zoelda was now suspecting to be the royal Twili cloak.

"But it's an important event, Link!" Mina said. The girl now had tears standing her eyes too, making Zoelda think that she was missing something here, something the Twili royal family knew that she didn't.

"Yes, I suppose it is, but we also don't want to blow it out of proportion, Mina."

"You're not letting me not come, brother." The Twili Princess said with uncharacteristic forcefulness, leading Alarink to start slightly.

"Mina…" Mumbled he as they reached Mina's quarters, which looked a lot like any other place in the Palace to Zoelda. She probably should have paid more attention to the tour the girl gave her.

"I want the opportunity to say goodbye, Link." Whispered Mina, on the verge of sobbing as she ran into her room, leaving the rest of them standing a little shocked in the hallway.

"How much did you tell her?" Alarink asked his mother in a slightly strangled tone.

"All of it."

"Why?" He demanded, his tone sick and stricken. "Why would you do that to her?! She's just a kid!"

"She's the Princess of the Twili, Link. She needs to know what's going on in both worlds, the good, the bad, and the ugly."

"Hyrule's pretty much an exclusively bad and ugly place, Mother. She doesn't need to know about it."

"Of course it is, it's ran by an immature Princess who's probably having sex with her 'hero-knight' as we speak." Midna said frankly, her sorrow seeming to have abated enough to allow her to speak more frankly. "But one day, Mina's going to succeed me and have to know what's going on and how to handle it. You threw yourself in at the deep end of Hyrule when you were her age, you know."

"I had a heavy destiny on my back, I was forced to grow up quickly." Alarink said defensively.

"So did she, as did your friend here." Midna gestured to Zoelda with a little less contempt than she would have earlier, causing the brunette to blink in surprise. "Everyone grows up in their own pace and time, Link. It's time to stop hiding your sister from the pain the world holds, at least the Twili world."

"… Don't introduce her to Hyrule until this is over." Said he to his mother forcefully, his face unhappy but clearly displaying that he knew this was how it had to be.

"I'll keep her from Hyrule as long as I can." Midna promised as Mina came back out, tear marks on her face that she was obviously attempting to hide in the deep cowl of her hooded cloak.

Silently, Alarink extended his arm to his sister. Hesitantly, she took it and lead the way at his side, muttering quietly between themselves as they went down the corridor to the Palace entrance.

This left Zoelda in a slightly uncomfortable position next to the Queen of the realm, who was silently scrutinising her. The brunette was simply trying to wrap her head around what had happened in the last few hours, but the constant and silent watching of the Twili Queen made that a little hard. So, she kept her head held high, tried not to limp too much on her once again hurting leg, and followed Alarink and his sister into the Palace courtyard and down into the busy throng of people in the city.

The siblings conversed animatedly with the towns folk, giving no indication of the fact that they'd both been crying only a little while before and effectively being model royalty as they invited the Twili mass to follow them to the pulling of the Master Sword by the new hero. A little to Zoelda's surprise, the commoners flocked to the Prince and Princess and all but ignored the Queen walking beside her. There were the occasional nods of respect in her direction, but most of the attention was on the royal siblings.

Just as Zoelda started to wonder why the Twili were ignoring their Queen, about the same time as the plaza before the broken mirror came into view with the impaled Ganondorf in its centre, Midna spoke directly to her for the first time.

"He'd die for you without a second thought, you know." She said simply, her face forward and in no way looking at her, though it was clear who her words were directed at. Zoelda stared up at the tall Twili, her face a mask of shock as she saw her regal bearing behind an impervious though saddened face. "Would you do the same for him?"

For a few seconds, Zoelda could only gape at the frank way the Queen had spoken about her son. There had been no doubt in her statement, and it almost sounded as though Midna knew that shortly her son would give his life for a girl he hadn't known a week before. It was a statement that struck her core, not because she was afraid that he'd do that for her:

But because she was afraid about the fact that she would do the same for him.

It made no logical sense, Zoelda knew that. The two of them hadn't know each other anywhere near long enough to be saying they'd die for one another, yet, at the same time, Zoelda knew that she knew Alarink better than anyone, except perhaps his mother. And, though she didn't like to admit it, Alarink knew her almost as well as her father and Impax did.

So, perhaps, it wasn't time that qualified the level of a solid friendship, it was more how well you got to know one another in that time.

And that struck Zoelda hard. She was still young and relatively inexperienced in the way of the world and friendships, so she had always thought that it was time that formed a firm bond between people, that no matter how well you got to know one another in the first week of meeting, it would still need more time to be a firm friendship. Now, as they approached the tall and dead Ganondorf in the middle of the plaza, a crowd of most of the Twilis in the realm around them, she knew that she'd see this through to the very end, even if it meant Alarink or her giving their life for one another.

Though she had to admit she didn't want to leave him, she knew as soon as the Sword was pulled from the hulking figure in the plaza, they would both be fully committed.

"I-" Zoelda started to respond to Midna before being cut off by a sudden silence as Alarink raised his hand.

Standing before the beyond giant figure of Ganondorf, Alarink looked ever inch a crown prince of Twilight, his odd eyes amused and seeming to attract everyone's attention. Midna and Zoelda had moved to stand next to Mina close to Alarink, though still far away enough for him to command almost all the attention. There were a few glances towards the rest of the royal family and more than a few looks levelled at Zoelda. The stares directed at her from orange, yellow and red eyes made her highly nervous as she kept her face natural, looking from Alarink to the slightly petrified figure of their enemy.

"People of Twilight!" Alarink raised his voice, addressing the vast crowd of people before him and commanding their attention from within the cowl of his hood. "We are gathered here today to witness something stupendous. Although, I'm sure we'd all rather wait until it was out of our, our children and our childrens children's life times, it is time to revive Ganondorf again."

He, rather theatrically, gestured to the figure behind him as groans of anger rumbled through the crowd. Once again, he put up a palm to quieten them and Zoelda started to suspect that he had been addressing the mass of Twilight like this a few times.

"Please, I know you'd all rather this not happen, and I know you all know what this will mean for me." The mumbles of agreement suggested to Zoelda that she was the only one in the dark about what Alarink's role in all this would be. "So, why don't I introduce you to the one who's causing it to be time to put an end to Demise's physical form? I promise you can't stay mad at reviving Ganondorf after you meet the product of the Twin line."

It took Zoelda a moment to realise that Alarink had grab her by the wrist and brought her to stand next to him to be shown off, and even longer to realised that everyone was now staring at her in a kind of awe. Then it hit her, as she grinned a bit sheepishly, that they weren't only staring at her because she was the product of this long-forgotten line of royalty, but because she was likely the only female Hylian they had ever seen. Princess Zelda of the Twilight era had never visited herself, so it was highly probable.

"Now, now, no need to gawk, people!" Alarink laughed as he strapped the Master Sword sheath on under his cloak. Zoelda could honestly say she had no idea where that had come from, as is the case whenever she sees a Link in one of the games already miraculously have the Master Sword sheath. Ultimately, she decided not to question it, deciding to keep the mystery around it alive instead.

"There's just one more thing we need. Mother," he turned to look at Midna, something subtly changing in his gaze as he looked at her. A kind of pleading filled with sorrow and an apology so profound it almost made you cry to look at. "Do you give the one of Hero's spirit permission to draw the Sword and unleash Ganondorf one last time?"

"I do." Midna spoke clearly, her eyes watery but firm as she wrapped a comforting arm around her daughter, who was all but weeping openly.

"Then if you'll all wait here a moment, I'll go fetch Alarink!" Exclaimed he with a laugh, running off into the crowd and direction of the former Mirror. The crowd laughed with him as he turned back, leaving a path open for him to walk back through. It seemed only his family and Zoelda could see that him making a joke out of this was a way for him to mask his fear. All the same, he turned back around, still laughing as he looked directly at Zoelda, a few metres from him now. "I'm kidding, of course! Allow the true Hero to take the Sword!"

Then he began to jog, slowly a first before quickly working himself up to a sprint back through the crowd to Ganondorf's body and the Sword in his chest. Almost without thinking, Zoelda took a step to the side, knelt down and held her hand on the floor, waiting for him to run into them. On the last step, he launched himself into her hands and she, completely in sync, lifted her hands into the air with great force as she stood back up. It was a perfect movement that allowed Alarink to grab a hold of the Master Sword with his left hand, hold onto the monster's shoulder with his right and brace his legs against his waistband as he pulled.

And with one swift and complete movement, Alarink pulled the Master Sword from the man that his father had killed, holding it high above him as he slid down the crumbling body, landing in a crouch, his hood fallen back from the force of it all.

While most of every realm that knew this reality watched the sky above them turn a gaseous purple and red, Alarink and Zoelda saw a much different view of the worlds than the one before them – one that was dominated by the crumbling figure of Ganondorf and his gaseous spirt spiralling away in malice.

The two saw the cloud of Ganon cover the sky above Arbiters, startling the Princess and Link out of each other's embrace as they watched. They saw the cloud pass over the desert and over Shad, who looked up from his books to watch it pass over him, his eyes saddened behind his reflective glasses. They watched Ganon travel over Zoras Domain to show Ralis that he was back, the Zora king watched in disgust, his daughter at looking troubled at his side. It circled over the Gorons of Death Mountain for a moment as they watched on grimly. Then it travelled past the Hidden Village, letting Impax know that her best friend's daughter was the one to put an end to it all. Finally, seemingly satisfied that it let the prominent people know of his return, Ganon drifted into Hyrule town. The townsfolk took one look at the cloud and immediately ran to their houses as it passed through the main square.

While many guards stood their ground against the cloud, none of them were able to hold him back and they all unfortunately perished.

Finally, Ganondorf set upon Hyrule Castle. He swirled for a bit before finally entering and settling, covering the Castle and its courtyard with an impenetrable purple and red fog.

They felt, rather than heard, Demise issue them with the challenge to come and meet him head on one last time. The duo clearly saw the sneer and grin as he taunted them, wanting the full Triforce in his hands one more time to remake the world in his image.

And then they were looking at the Twilight realm again, the realm of shadows and an empty plaza. Alarink, shakily got to his feet, holding the Sword in a tight grip before putting it over his shoulder and into its sheath. All the while, Zoelda was staring at him with a look of resolution and determination. She nodded to herself once as Alarink looked at her confused, pushing his fringe off of his perspiring forehead and out of its circlet. Then she took his wrist in her hand and pulled him behind her as she ran, much like he had towards Ganondorf's body and the Sword, towards the place where the former Mirror of Twilight had stood.

Instinctively, she knew that she could open a portal back. Despite her sheer exhaustion and limp, she was determined to end this now. She didn't want Ganondorf out there any longer than necessary.

And so, she lifted her Triforced hand and opened a portal, dragging the Prince of the realm they were leaving behind her.

As he run/stumbled behind her, he turned to face his mother and sister and flashed them a grin that was meant to say, _"I'm sorry, I love you guys, I'll miss you every day, and I promise I'll be back."_ He instead flashed them a gentle smile of wonder, sorrow and, perhaps most obviously of all, and certainly most confusingly, love.

The last thing Midna saw of her son was his grin of love for the girl dragging him to his inevitable destiny.

* * *

 _AN:_

 _First, I want to thank everyone who reviewed last week. It really means a lot to me that people enjoyed the last chapter and took the time to review. To the person who sent me two reviews, thank you for sharing your story and taking the time to review despite not normally doing so, it really means a lot. I considered your suggestion to change the warnings and what I've actually decided to do is up the age bracket - I've been mulling it over for a while and, looking ahead to the last few chapters, it gets a little more violent and gruesome that what's normally accepted in a T story - so this is now a M story, though by this point, you probably know what to expect rating wise._

 _As is probably clear now, chapter 12 meant an awful lot to me and it really does make me happy to know that people enjoyed it and Alarink's confession._

 _Little story about that confession that I probably should have included last week: it wasn't intended. In my scene planning that was actually meant to be the moment when Alarink tells Zoelda that he's going to die and this chapter was meant to be her coming to terms with that fact. Instead, it got to 7pm the day I was writing that chapter and I was all in an emotional tizz, so I decided it was time to actively show Alarink's true character, who he really is underneath all the smiles and swears._

 _And before I knew it, I had a 2000 word confession going over the entire events of the story so far. When I looked at it again the next day, I was thinking that I needed to really cut it down since it was already a long chapter. But I didn't dare touch it. It was too emotionally raw, too perfectly showing who he actually is._

 _And for the longest time, that was the last thing I wrote. As I mentioned last week, circumstances prevented me from writing, as did my mental health. So, by the time it came to writing this chapter I thought the only was down, that in that confession I'd peaked and I would never write anything better._

 _So many things interrupted me while I was writing this chapter, to the point where it took me over a month to complete, only managing 500 - 2000 words at a time. But the thing that held me back the most was the thought that I could never write anything better than that confession._

 _Let me tell you, self doubt mixed with depression messes with you like a bitch._

 _But this is what I eventually managed, and I'm happy with it. Perhaps not as proud of it as I am with 12, but happy with it all the same. It's the start of the last part of the story (though it's not split quite right, you could even consider it the end of act two and start of act three, though I'm not sure I would)._

 _And in this last part, I've gone for a more emotional writing style. I still can't think of a way to actually describe the change, but it's probably clear that I'm using this story as a way to work through some of my own problems from this point onward._

 _Anyway, I'll let you decide for yourself if you think I peaked last chapter as the story goes on (perhaps nothing will top that confession, but the second to last chapter sure as hell tries). I hope you stick with me, and forgive me for these last two_ _longer than usually ANs._

 _I hope you continue to enjoy this story going forward, it's more interesting than the first half at least and focuses more with Alarink's love for Zoelda and how she deals with it and, later, the knowledge that he's going to die._

 _So, thanks for reading and - despite the fact that I say this every week and things still haven't improved for me - here's to a better next week._

 _~WWQ_


	15. 14 Lake Hylia

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _14\. Lake Hylia_

The pair burst back into Hyrule with a leap onto the old platform of the Twilight Mirror. The sky above was almost as dark as the Twilight Realm had been, but it was dotted here and there with pockets of silvery stars and covered in a vaguely wine purple mist that showed Ganon's passing. The moon stood high, starting its cycle of waning again and Zoelda was a little surprised by how bright it was. Although, she suspected that a large part of that surprise came down to the fact that her eyes had become adjusted to the shadows of Twilight in her few hours there.

In fact, as she rebalanced herself and flicked her hair back from her face again, she felt the whole process of coming back to Hyrule was a lot like the feeling of coming up for air after a deep dive. The fact that it hadn't felt like that when they went into the Realm must have been a result of the difference in how Alarink had took them in and how Zoelda had taken them back out.

It was only then that she remembered she was still holding his wrist. A little surprised that he hadn't wormed it out of her grasp, she looked up at him just behind her and started a little.

The fact that he was topless under his robe didn't particularly surprise her since he had been in his realm, though the reveal of his bisecting scar of his Hylian skin was far more shocking than it had been on his Twili. Against the natural colouring of his Twili skin it hadn't stood out all too much, here it was an aggressive white line cutting clearly across his pale-tanned chest. The fact that he was still wearing his royal jewellery about his head and ankles also didn't surprise Zoelda, though seeing ginger hair against his somewhat more tanned face was certainly a little shock – but, as she thought about it, it really did make no sense for Alarink to be a brunet since his father was blond and his mother ginger.

No, the thing that – as always – shocked Zoelda was Alarink's expression,

There had been a certain twist of sadness and bitter acceptance in his expression just after he had pulled the Sword from Ganondorf's body, alongside that strange question that had been in his eyes all day, and the even stranger answer after he came out from speaking to his mother. And now, as the re-entered a world soon to be at the mercy of Ganondorf, a realm that the group of them was tasked with saving before the end of the week, his expression had completely changed.

It was just joy. Pure, unadulterated joy on his features as he looked out on Gerudo.

Whenever she remembered Alarink, it was how he looked in that moment that came to Zoelda first.

His profile framed by the walls of Arbiter's coliseum and illuminated by the strangely bright moon that seemed to wash that slight tan on his face out to a pallor that rivalled her own. His bright turquoise eyes looking unseeingly up the stairs that lead them back out of the grounds, mirroring the clusters of stars in their own, lighter galaxy. It was how his ginger bangs were tinged silver as they blew gently against his face, his lips slightly apart in a kind of wonder at the world and hood fallen back around his shoulders.

Most of all, what she remembered clearest about him in that moment was that final resolution to the question that had clearly plagued him all day. It was an acceptance, a shy grin at the world, as he felt some pure emotion for the first time, And, just as clearly as it was a new found emotion for life and the world itself, it was also clearly a new emotion that involved Zoelda.

For, whenever she remembered him, it was that profile look of his that reached her memories first, followed shortly after the look he directly entirely at her moments later.

It was a look that she'd seen on other people before, but certainly one she'd never had directed at her. A slightly under the eyelashes look that was for her and no one else to see, a surprise in his eyes that she doubted he even realised was there. It was a small but surprised smile on slightly ajar lips as though he was looking at, or rather _seeing_ her for the first time. Ultimately, it was a look that made her think he was going to grab hold of her and never let go.

That was perhaps the first time that day that Zoelda realised that Alarink might holder her in higher regard than just a close friend. It was the first time that she realised that, while she cared for him as one of the most interesting people she'd met, she perhaps didn't hold such deep feelings as he did.

And it was with a kind of surprised hesitation that she let go of his wrist and turned away from a moment that had all the ear marks of being a first kiss.

She could feel his confusion and surprise as she turned away and took a few steps to get a little distance from the situation. Squeezing her eyes shut in a kind of embarrassment and anger, not at him for feeling that way about her, or at herself for turning away from something that some deep part of her clearly desired, but just because that's what her cringing body made her do in that moment as her mind raced, she shook her head and started down in the direction of the other two and the tents.

All the while, she could feel Alarink's confusion and ultimate frustration as he walked behind her, his anklets' jingling filling the silence of the desert.

The fact that the two of them walked into what had clearly been a hasty clean up of a passionate few hours only added more instinctive embarrassment to the situation. Zoelda internally cringed as the Princess and her knight walked over to join them, both of their hair mussed and their clothes clearly hastily put on.

"We saw Ganondorf's spirit come back into Hyrule." The Princess said seriously as the four of them met in front of the tents. "He's headed straight to my Castle."

"We saw as much ourselves, Princess," Alarink said, his voice slightly muffled as he pulled on one of Link's tunics, much to the blond's disgust. As he pulled the hole over his head, he grinned wickedly at the two of them. "We saw _everything_ as his spirit reentred the world. Hope we're not keeping the two of you from anything?"

The Princess and Knight both flushed brightly, looking wildly uncomfortable. Again, Zoelda internally cringed as she sat down and took one of their flasks of water.

"Oh, this wasn't what you were wearing was it?" Alarink plucked the front of the tunic he was now wearing, it was noticeably too small and tight for him, even more so that Ilia's had been. Still flushed bright red, Link shook his head. "Oh good, wouldn't want to be wearing that. Oh, you don't mind me borrowing it, do you? Speak now or forever hold your peace!"

The glare the unwholesomely grinning Alarink received from Link could have killed Ganondorf.

"While this isn't wildly entertaining," Zoelda intercepted as she inspected the bite on her leg. "What's the plan from here? When do we need to start moving again?"

"Well, we've still got a few things left to do before we meet Ganodorf-"

"Such as?" Princess Zelda asked, her blush having receded somewhat and her chin held regally high as Alarink took off the rest of the clothes and jewellery that marked him as a prince and stowed them away.

"We've got to get this thing blessed in the Sacred Grove before we can use it." Alarink waved the Master Sword around in its sheath as he put his robe away, belting the weapon back across his torso as he carried on speaking. "Plus, I've got to visit two more springs to get myself blessed for the meeting and pick up my armour."

"You're so disorganised." Princess Zelda said with a flick of dishevelled hair.

"Not really, we're going back that way anyway. So, for once, I'm actually very organised."

"So, when do we start?" Zoelda asked as a way to head off any further discussion. She was far too tired to be dealing with another argument between the two of them.

Alarink squinted up at the sky for a moment, rubbing his stubbled chin as he did. "As soon as possible. It'll take us most of the day to leave the desert, but if we can get back to Lake Hylia by the middle of the afternoon, we can sleep until morning and be refreshed enough to head down to Faron the next day."

"Out of question." Zoelda said bluntly as the Princess and Link started packing their assorted stuff away.

"And why's that?" Alarink asked equally bluntly. In that little interaction a few moments ago, Zoelda had unwillingly created a weird gap in their relationship that she doubted she could explain rationally. It was likely to be a long few days if things remained like this.

"My leg is killing me, I'm barely going to be able to walk on it." Replied she as she started to bandage up her bite wound again.

"I'll support you if needs be. … I know it's not ideal, I'd much rather stop for the day and get some sleep, but the longer we wait, the longer Ganondorf has to take full control of the Castle. We need to power on." He spoke kindly enough, in fact even more kindly than usual for him, but there was still an undertone of ice to it that made Zoelda give up with a sigh. Every step she took on her injured leg was like walking on glass, though she suspected that the sooner they got back to Shad, the sooner he could have a proper look at it.

So, they packed up their bags and, rather begrudgingly on all sides, started up the innumerable stairs to the even more innumerable stairs back down the coliseum. Though a part of her shirked a little from his touch, Zoelda did allow – and even appreciate – Alarink's support in the climb up the stairs.

"Alright, what's wrong?" He finally asked when they were a few staris behind the others. "Have I done something to upset you since we got back?"

Zoelda looked at him, her arm draped over his shoulder as he helped her. There was sincere concern on his face as he asked, none of the same strange look that had come over him when they'd just come back into Hyrule. She was on the brink of telling him the truth when she looked back at him again and saw his hair, tied back with a ragged cloth once again. So, instead she pouted and glared in front of her, a look that she didn't realise came off as rather adorable to him. "You never told me you were naturally ginger."

There were a few moments of silence after that accusation before Alarink began to laugh uproariously. "No, I suppose I didn't, did I?"

As much as she didn't want to, as much as she wanted to tell him right there and then that she didn't have any kind of romantic feelings for him that he seemed to have for her, something held her tongue and she found herself, sheepishly at first, beginning to join in the laughing.

Sure, there was the chance that they were on the brink of messing up their budding friendship, but why shouldn't Zoelda pretend it's fine for a bit longer? It's not like she really had anyone else to rely on in Hyrule at that moment anyway.

So, she laughed and convinced herself that everything that had happened in that almost moment earlier had been a fluke of her imagination. Besides, there was no way that it could have actually been fuelled by Alarink having feelings for Zoelda.

* * *

The journey out of Arbiter's Grounds was somewhat longer than the journey into it.

Despite the fact that they were climbing down rather than up the stairs, it didn't make them move any faster, in fact it almost seemed to make them move slower so they wouldn't trip down the steep stairs. Plus, Zoelda was limping on her injured leg and they were all utterly exhausted by another night of no sleep. Alarink, seemingly inexhaustible despite the fact that he'd clearly had even less sleep over the last few days than the rest of them, was surprisingly quiet as he supported Zoelda's limp. The only time he really spoke was to remark about how glad he was that they'd left the rope ladder in place when they'd climbed up; apparently parkouring down was "just too dangerous" for him at this time of early morning.

It was beginning to heat up again as they got back on the sand in the middle of the morning. Much to the surprise of all of them, the Bulbos they'd left wondering when they'd climbed up were still loitering around as they climbed back down. No one saw fit to question why they were still about, and none of them were going to complain as it would make the ride back much quicker and more bearable. As they mounted and set off – the Zeldas steering as the Links shot any monsters from behind them – Zoelda noticed the significant advantage that Hylians had on Bulbos; due to them being a fair bit shorter than her and Alarink, they could ride comfortably with their legs down for one, and they looked far less awkward on them for sure.

Regardless of looks, the Bulbos proved useful in getting back to the Desert edge quickly. Judging from the heat, Zoelda estimated it to be early afternoon by the time they dismounted and headed to the lift contraption again. Certainly, the hottest part of the day had past, though it was by no means cool as they eyed up the lift.

"How do we let Shad know we're waiting?" The Princess asked as they noticed the lift was on the other side of the line. Princess Zelda was very clearly struggling under the heat, her blonde hair plastered to her head with sweat and every other breath a pant.

"Normally I get back at night and light a fire," Alarink said as he knelt down next to the track-line of the lift, clearly not as affected by the heat as the rest of them, a fact that still ticked Zoelda off.

"It's far too hot to light a fire now, Alarink." Said the Princess, glancing over the edge and back at the blazing sun. "Besides, with the glare right now, I'd seriously doubt Shad would see the fire anyway. He's probably not even looking for us, he has no way to know when we're going to be back."

"I know," Alarink dusted off the wire rope that the lift was connected to. Zoelda wasn't going to pretend she had any idea how lifts worked, much less how this one worked, but she suspected that rope was what the lift itself was pulled with. That suspicion was somewhat confirmed when Alarink tugged the rope tight a few times. "Shad saw Ganondorf return, so I'd imagine he's waiting for us, whether he knows what to look for or not. I hope he gets that signal…"

"Yes, because a pulling of a rope is a very clear and obvious signal." The Princess snapped. "Not like a Bulbo could do that at anytime-"

The Princess' angry tirade was cut short by the sight of the lift speeding up to them, spinning around at the last possible second to bare its latched door, which Alarink opened with an air of casualness designed to irritate everyone further.

"After you." He gestured, showing the blondes that they should get in first. Scowling a little, but eager to get back to Hyrule and cool land, they got in and closed the door behind them. A few seconds later, the lift juddered to a start and rolled back down the boarder.

"You had no idea if that would work or not, did you?" Zoelda asked as the lift sped away, her arms crossed over her chest as she shifted the weight off her injured leg.

"Of course I did," Alarink answered, his tone somewhat injured as he looked at her. "Shad is definitely waiting for us, so I knew he'd be watching for any kind of signal from us."

Zoelda looked up at him in silence with a disbelieving raised eyebrow, not believing the injured look on his features for a moment. Just as she was starting to believe him – as the lift started back towards them again a few minutes later – she let her eyebrow drop and he immediately winked at her with a grin.

"You're a complete pain in the arse."

"I've been told that a few times, more so in this context but-"

"Just open the hell-contraption, Alarink." Zoelda said exasperatedly as the lift swung around doorside for them.

"The logic was sound at least," he said as he held the door open for her. "And, hey, it worked, didn't it?"

Saying nothing as she climbed into the lift, Zoelda only shuddered as she remembered the circumstances of her last ride in it, of the malice that had been in her mind, of the horrid dizzying experience it and the lift had left her with.

"Close your eyes," Alarink said softly to her as he got in and latched the door behind him, leaning in the opposite corner with his arms crossed. "It'll help. And I'll catch you if you stumble."

"Okay…" Zoelda said dubiously, leaning back against the wall herself and closing her eyes as the juddering ride started, gripping her arms tightly.

"Hey, Zelda?" Alarink asked as she desperately tried to keep herself calm, having her eyes closed hardly helped distract from the speeding lurch the lift travelled at.

"What?"

"… You're not going to say anything about my sister to them, are you?" Alarink asked after a moment of hesitation.

Zoelda smiled, despite knowing he'd been planning to ask something else there; she decided wasn't going to ask about it, instead she answered, "No, I promised I wouldn't, so I won't."

"Thank you."

"Oh, I'm not doing it for you," she opened her eyes and grinned at him, a grin much like his, as the lift started to slow. "I'm doing it for her."

The lift did it's disorienting swing then, knocking Zoelda completely off balance and making her miss the answering sweet smile on Alarink's lips as she half fell into him. Righting her with his left hand, he opened the door with his right and hopped out, pulling her after him onto the far too level grass. She was used to the shifting sand beneath her feet and the rocking lift, even the Twilight's shadow hadn't been entirely solid; so being back on solid grass brought her to her knees in unbalance.

Shaking herself a little, though making no effort to move from the now kneeling/sitting position she was in, she looked out over Lake Hylia again, glad to be back in Hyrule and a land, perhaps not good under Ganon's new control, but one she found somewhat more familiar.

"I saw Ganondorf come back into Hyrule last night," Shad was saying to Alarink by the lift. The sight of the two of them together now made Zoelda realise how much lighter a shade of ginger Alarink was compared to the older man, another stark reminder to her that as the Twili Prince he hadn't been born brunet. "I presume that means it's all set into motion now?"

"I'm afraid so, my friend." Alarink said somewhat sadly, trying not to catch Shad's eye as he shifted the weight of the Master Sword on his back.

"Then goodbye, old boy." Shad said, embracing him with tears shining behind his glasses.

Zoelda looked away at that point, not watching long enough to see Alarink embrace him back, or to understand what the conversation had been about. Instead, she looked over to where the Princess and Link were checking the horses over, setting up tents and changing back into impractical heeled boots. Taking a moment to glance down at her sand coated Docs, Zoelda decided that she'd forgo the heeled boots the rest of the journey; yes, her feet might be more conspicuous this way, but at least she'd be comfortable.

Just as she started struggling to her feet, Shad was there to offer her a hand. "Link told me that you're injured, shall I look it over for you?"

"Oh. Um, thank you." Stammered she as she took his hand and got to her feet, vaguely watching as Alarink went over to help the Princess and Link set up tents for them to sleep in until morning.

"Nothing I can't treat," Shad was muttering as he looked the bite on her leg over. Suddenly, he grinned up at her, a tight grin with no real amusement. "Especially since we've got Lanyaru Spring right here."

"Thank you." She said simply again as Shad started to prepare an ointment for her.

"No problem, my girl." As he knelt down to administer the ointment, he whispered, "What happened to him in Twilight? He seems like a changed man now…"

"I, um, I honestly don't know." Zoelda looked over at where Alarink stood, teasing Zelda and Link mercilessly, it seemed. She rolled her eyes. "A changed man, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it. He's never willingly given into his destiny in all this before, something changed him up there. Something in his home realm, I'd bet. I know him well enough to know what to look for, my girl, and there's something about him…" The older man suddenly squinted up at her. "And there's something different about you too, Zelda. A confidence you didn't have before…"

"Ah…" She ruffled her hair a bit as she turned back to Shad. "I suppose there is… I guess Twilight did have an effect on both of us. Alarink spoke to his mother for a long time while he was there, I'd bet that's what's changed him. And, I dunno, I guess I just kinda accepted this is what I have to do here if I ever want to get back home…"

"Do you want to get back home?" The sun glinted off of Shad's glasses, making Zoelda hesitate, not quite entirely sure what she would have said even if she hadn't hesitated.

Of course she wanted to go back home, there's nothing she wanted more than to see her dad and get back to some semblance of normal life. But then she also knew that her life would never be normal again when she got back home. She knew that that she'd never be entirely content with leaving Hyrule and Impax behind.

Plus, she couldn't even bare to think about how she'd feel if she left Alarink behind.

"I-"

"There you go." Shad said suddenly, tying a bandage around her leg as Alarink walked over to them. "That should start feeling better in no time, my girl."

"Oh, thank you…" Zoelda muttered as she felt Alarink stood next to her.

"We all sorted here then?" Alarink asked with a slight grin. "The royals set up the tents and a big lunch, so we can eat then sleep until morning and start to end this."

"That sounds like a good plan, my boy. I barely slept myself, so the Goddesses know I could use some sleep." Shad said, heading over to where a blanket of food had been set up in front of a group of tents.

"Shall we?" Alarink gestured to the food and the two of them headed over to eat their fill.

Zoelda's thoughts raced much over that lunch/dinner, thinking over everything that had happened and the importance of it all – of Ganon, the Twili and Alarink. As she started to feel full, her mind still raced but she no longer paid attention, instead starting to fall asleep where she sat. Noticing this, Alarink suggested they all retire to their tents and see each other again at the crack of dawn. No one bothered to complain or say anything at all really, no one even bothered to say anything as they saw Link and the Princess enter the same tent.

No, they all simply went their own way and did their own thing during those hours until next sunrise.

Zoelda was asleep almost before her head hit her balled up t-shirt pillow.

* * *

It was around midnight when she woke up again, though she couldn't be sure of the time. At first she simply thought she'd woken up due to a messed up body clock, so she shook her head and turned over, fully intending to go back to sleep. However, the sound of movement outside, the sound that had woken her up even if she didn't realise it, kept her awake. After a few moments of fear and anger at that noise, Zoelda pulled her blanket about her as a cloak, took up one of her swords and stealthily went to the door of her tent to see what was up.

By this point, though her body was a little shocked by it, her mind wasn't particularly surprised to see Alarink cloaked in his Twili robe and sneaking down to Lanayru spring in the middle of the night.

Knowing what had caused the noise now, Zoelda was tempted to shrug it all off and head back into her tent to sleep some more. Alarink was probably just going to purify himself at the spring like he said he needed to earlier. But a part of her was curious, _so_ incredibly curious, as to what this purification involved and why it had to happen now.

There was an almost compulsion set on her to see what was going to happen in that Spring, and her feet began to move almost before she registered it. While Alarink had had no need to be particularly quiet on his walk down to the lake, Zoelda walked on silent feet behind him, desperate not to alert him to her presence.

It wasn't all that long of a walk down from the top almost island of the Lake to the Spring, but it certainly wasn't a short walk, and the necessity to sneak made things seem even longer to Zoelda. More than once she wondered if she should just shout to Alarink and tell him that she was there and following him, but everytime she straightened up to call him, something held her tongue. She couldn't exactly figure out why, but after a while she decided not to bother calling him, instead she would just watch him from a distance as he went to go purify his spirit.

The more she thought about it, the more Zoelda realised she didn't really know why Alarink needed to purify himself; gods, she didn't even know what his part in all this was! Everyone she'd spoken to who seemed to know what he was going to do had simply said it was odd to see him accept his destiny, a fate he had tried to avoid his entire life.

So, as she watched him enter the Spring from a few metres away, she finally asked herself: What is Alarink's part in all this?

She pointedly avoided looking at the possibility that everyone alluded to. There was no way his destiny in all this was to simply die. There'd be no point going through all this purification and whatnot if he was just going to die at the end of it all.

But the scar across his chest, the one that the Triforce of Courage was clearly embedded in, spoke otherwise.

Regardless of what she thought his destiny was in it all, at that point in time all she could do was think about was being silent as she snuck into the Spring behind him.

It was surprisingly light in the Spring for this time of night, lit by the glow of a bunch of fairies, it seemed. Though, as Zoelda leant back in the shadows of the corridor leading in, she noticed there was a certain amount of light coming from a glow above the Spring that had very little to do with fairies. The Spring itself was unchanged and likely unchangeable, teaming with rope like vines climbing the blue stone walls and a school of small fish swimming in the lake, an outcropping providing almost a natural diving board into the deep lake.

However, as Zoelda leant stealthily in the corridor in that night, she had to admit the scenery wasn't exactly what she was looking at.

Only a few metres ahead of her, at the head of the outcropping that jutted out over the lake, Alarink was kneeling in a suspiciously prayerlike pose, his Twili robes flared about his waist and hood turned up over his face. From her position, Zoelda couldn't hear anything that he was saying clearly, and she could only see his back, but she could definitely hear him mumbling some sort of prayer or invocation to the divine.

As perhaps one of the most depraved people she had ever met, it struck her as just a little funny to see him in such devout prayer, possibly asking for purification and forgiveness from the Goddesses. Of course, she couldn't laugh there though, it would give her away; so she twisted her lips inwards so as to not let the laughter out.

It turned out that lip sealing proved even more useful when, just seconds later, Alarink flung down his hood and removed his cloak in two swift motions of his marked left hand. Now, completely nude with his ginger hair loose about his shoulders, he rose to his feet, his left hand seemingly before his chest in a prayer pose from what Zoelda could tell from looking at his stance from behind – though her eyes did wonder a bit from the stance, her blush growing deeper and deeper each time they did.

And, quite suddenly, he walked off the edge of the outcropping, falling feet first into the lake with surprisingly little splash.

Still suppressing a gasp, and very much willing her blush to die, Zoelda wondered out from the shadows a bit to get a better view of the events unfolding in the Spring, stopping suddenly and leaning against a small waterfall on the corridor wall as that not-fairy glow above the Spring flared up with a humming note.

Now, in the air above the Spring, a huge serpent-like Spirit of light hovered, it's incandescent scales brushing against one another as it swished its tail back and forth a bit, making no sound other than that out-of-this-world hum.

"Vessel of the Hero's spirit," the serpent said in a strangely humane voice, a rather masculine one at that, without any of the dry hissing one might expect if a snake were to talk. "Welcome to My Spring."

"Light Spirit Lanayru," Zoelda heard Alarink say respectfully from within the lake. "Thank you for welcoming me to it."

"As both Faron and Eldin have already blessed you, it is only fair that I should welcome you into My Spring before I do the same." Lanayru said somewhat humorously, continuing his twisting in the air.

"And will you bless me like they did?" Alarink asked, his tone serious despite the Spirit's being light. "Will you purify me so that I may be ready when my fate comes?"

"I was expecting a bit more discussion beforehand, but very well." Lanayru seemed somewhat disappointed by Alarink's uncharacteristic seriousness, but closed his eyes all the same, drawing on his source of power. After a few seconds, the hum that had been hovering over him since he manifested grew deafening as a large ball of light appeared out of mid-air in his jaws. It pulsed for a few seconds with the hum, then flew down into the Spring, likely into Alarink if Zoelda was reading the situation right. The hum died into silence a few moments later, a silence that caused everything to fall still as Zoelda looked on in uncomprehending disbelief.

"Thank you, Lanayru." Alarink said, breaking the silence with a slight splash as he moved in the water. "I hope you don't mind me resting in your Spring for a bit longer as a way of meditation."

"No, you are welcome to meditate in my water." The serpent spirit turned around then, turning his ethereal though snake eyes to look at Zoelda, who was now leaning half in, half out of the shadows of the Spring entrance. "Shall I bless the Lost Goddess' blood while you do?"

" _WHAT?"_ Alarink shouted, a large splash heard from where he must have been lying on the water's surface.

"Vessel of the Lost Twin's spirit, step forth so that I may purify you." Lanayru said, compelling Zoelda forward with the power in his voice. Somewhat reluctantly, she came to a stop at the edge of the outcropping, allowing her to see the whole of the body of water that was Lanayru's Spring. And allowing her to see the whole of Alarink in the middle of the Spring, treading water with his body completely vertical as though he was trying to hide his nudity – though from such a height above him, Zoelda could see everything whether he like it or not.

In an effort to keep herself from blushing yet again, Zoelda kept her eyes on the serpent spirit, desperately willing herself not to let them wonder without all that much luck.

"Why are you here, Zoelda?" Alarink asked in a strangled voice, his face flushed for what she suspected was one of the first times in his life.

"Shush, please," Lanayru said. "I am purifying this maiden's mind."

Moments passed in uncomfortable silence as the Spirit worked, the sound of the wall waterfalls being the only noise. Zoelda didn't exactly feel all that much purified by the Spirit, though she couldn't deny that there was a presence in her mind while the Spirit worked that had not been there before. Almost as soon as she noticed the presence, it was gone.

"Now you may speak." He said as the presence lifted off of Zoelda's mind, leaving her feeling almost strangely alone.

"What did you just do?" Zoelda asked the serpent, somewhat confused by it all.

"I purified your mind so that it might be clear when you are faced against Ganondorf."

"Thank you?" She replied to the spirit a little confusedly, pulling her blanket cloak a little closer. "What exactly is it I need to do when I meet Ganon?"

"That I am not permitted to tell you." The Spirit said after a moment of contemplation. The whole time they casually spoke, Alarink was getting more and more worked up in the lake below them. "You will know when the time comes."

"Oh good, I was expecting another helpfully vague answer." Zoelda muttered sarcastically before snapping. "How come I'm the only person who can't know what's going to happen? What's Alarink and the Princess' part in all this, huh? What are they going to do?"

"ZELDA!" Alarink shouted at her in uncharacteristic heat, grinding his teeth and stopping Lanayru from answering her. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"

"I was curious about what the noise was, and when I saw it was you, I decided to follow you to find out what was going on." She answered, looking down at him to start with before deciding it would be safer to let her eyes wonder the scenery instead.

"Why would you decide to follow me?" Alarink asked somewhat exasperatedly. "Why would you do that? Why can't you give me a moment's peace?"

"In the maiden's defence, Vessel of the Hero," Lanayru interrupted before Zoelda could snap a reply. "I compelled her to come. I needed to bless her and there would have been no time to do that later."

"Did you have to do it while I was here, though?" Alarink asked a little petulantly, also avoiding looking at Zoelda too closely as he spoke.

"It was the easiest time to do it, yes. I fail to see why this is making you uncomfortable, Hero." Lanayru asked curiously, though there was a hint of amusement in his voice that suggested he knew exactly why he was uncomfortable.

"Well, I'm…" Alarink trailed off as he looked down at himself in the water. "I'm naked, Lanayru."

"And? Your thoughts indicate that that is your more preferred state among the opposite and even same sex."

"Yeah, well…" Alarink looked up at Zoelda and flushed even brighter, turning away again after he did. "Seriously, Zelda, why can't you give me a moment's peace?"

"What do you mean?" She responded, angrily looking down at him. This was the man who hadn't given her a second of peace since she'd arrived, who had almost tried to kiss her earlier and had tried to pretend it didn't happen for the rest of the day. An almost rage built up in her as she looked down at him, not seeing his nudity but just seeing him, the Hylian-Twili who had barely left her alone all the time they'd known each other, who hadn't told her what he was and was still avoiding telling her what the two of them were meant to do in this destiny of theirs, who had the audacity to say _she_ was the one who wasn't giving him peace.

If either one had stopped to think for a moment, they both could have realised that it was Lanayru manipulating them into a frenzy to make sure they said something that would help them win in the final fight with Ganondorf. But right now, they were just two stubborn teenagers about to have an argument.

" _I've_ not given _you_ a moment of peace?! Link, you've literally barely left me alone since I've gotten here and now you have the audacity to tell me that _I'm_ the one being a pest?!" Zoelda's voice might have raised several octaves as she glared down at him.

"You've been on my mind ever since I met you, Zelda!" Alarink shouted back at her, his strange eyes flashing and glaring, though there was a kind of sadness and longing behind them as well, that damned question and answer still haunting them. "Since we met, my mind has not known peace, I've barely been able to enjoy myself and I've changed my whole opinion on my destiny since I met you, the one who is causing it! I practically told the whole of the Twilight Realm my intentions with you, and yet you still don't see what you're doing to me do you? For six days now, I've not known peace, and for as long as you continue to be in my life I doubt I will! So please, take a hint and don't make me say it."

"Say what?" Zoelda asked somewhat forcefully, not quite shouting though certainly not talking calmly. Something about the way he was speaking, a little vulnerably with the question in his eyes suddenly under the tone of his voice, caught her and she couldn't figure out what he was trying to tell her – despite how obvious he was being about it. It turned out, she was just a little dense at putting things together, and if she'd looked back at the events of the day, of the days even, she probably could have seen exactly where this line of conversation was going.

She might not have been able to believe that Alarink could hold romantic feelings for anyone, but she certainly could have noticed there was at least some sort of chemistry between them.

"How dense can you be, dear?" Alarink laughed darkly before looking up at her with tear studded eyes. "I am so hopelessly, irretrievably in love with you that I don't know what to do. You can see me - the real me, the man I've hidden from the world - at a glance and I can't quite believe that you can't see that that man loves you with everything he owns. More than anyone can ever know, that man is so deeply in love with you that he will die for you. Fuck, he nearly tried to kiss you earlier, he opened his heart to his mother over you, and you still don't see it, do you? I. Love. You. Zelda."

In that moment, Zoelda couldn't comprehend anything, all she could think was that the Spring's walls were closing in on her, that there wasn't enough air in this holy space. So, she turned around and started to walk away.

"Zelda!" Alarink called after, the sound of splashing accompanying his calls. But she didn't stop, instead she ran faster, holding her blanket tightly about her as she did.

She was at the mouth of the corridor leading out when she heard Lanayru drily say: "Smooth."

"Fuck off." Alarink snapped at the Spirit as Zoelda ran out of the cave and began to head back up to the camp, leaving Alarink standing naked at the edge of the lake looking after her in the dark.

This was just a dream.

A dream that she would wake up from and pretend never happened in the morning.

That was her story as her head hit the pillow again.

A story she was determined to stick to.

* * *

 _AN:_

 _So, if you were looking for a typical act structure in this story (which you shouldn't be since there really isn't one, as much as I may have planned otherwise) this would be the end of act two, the break into three if you like._

 _In a typical story, this is the part where everything starts to come to a head and everyone's initial flaws start to be addressed. I'd like to think this story has that in these last few chapters._

 _As previously mentioned these chapters were all written in the week before this was first posted. So, in a way they are all an example of me trying to figure out what kind of writer I want to be. As a now aspiring script writer, I can appreciate the fact the 'show don't tell mantra' a little more. As such, these chapters attempt to show character development in actions and speech rather than anything else. Whether or not that worked is another matter, but I do like how they turned out._

 _Think of them as an experiment in writing emotions, character and (later) violence, if you like._

 _Anyway, I don't have as much to say about this (and really the next) chapter in terms of notes, so I'll leave it at this._

 _Have a nice week everyone, see you next time._

 _~WWQ_


	16. 15 Sacred Grove

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _15\. Sacred Grove_

The sun rose sluggishly, allowing time for the group to rise slowly and eat heartily before they needed to set off again.

After the incident in the Spring, Zoelda had desperately tried to go back to sleep, had willed herself to believe it had been a dream the entire time. She willed herself to believe that everything that had happened in Hyrule had been a dream, that she was in some weird post Switch getting nap that her over active imagination was exaggerating beyond belief.

Of course that didn't actually work.

Too much had happened, _too much_ had happened to change her. And the fact that she had evidently changed Alarink and his views continued to bother her as she tried to drift back to sleep.

It didn't help that soon Alarink was scratching on her tent, whispering her name.

"Zelda?" She pulled her blankets up over head in a futile attempt to block him out. "Zelda, I know you're in there. I'm, I'm sorry. I've just screwed it all up. I should have just let it be."

 _Then leave it be now,_ Zoelda thought to herself with a roll of her eyes.

There was a slumping sound from outside. She leaned up to have a look and saw the slightly darker silhouette of Alarink leaning against her tent in his robe against an already dark background. It was in that moment that she remembered what Alarink had said a few days earlier when she had jokily asked who the Shadows belonged to if not the Princess. Seeing him as a slightly darker shadow on an already dark one made her remember that he was – at least he had been born - a creature of shadow, a creature born to rule it.

"… But I'm not going to take it back and say I didn't mean it. I've spent the last two days trying to hide from the fact, so I'm not going to hide it any longer. I've fully given into my destiny because of it. And, do you want to know my destiny? The part of the Hero's Spirit in this final confrontation with Ganondorf?

"It's to die, Zelda. Within the next few days, I'll be dead.

"And I'll be damned if I go out without telling you that I love you."

Moments passed as Zoelda wrapped her head around the fact that she had suspected right. Moments more passed as she tried to figure out why his only purpose in all this was to die, there had to be some reason, perhaps even some way out of it.

And finally she settled on the angry thought that Alarink was only telling her this all now to get her to say she loved him back, to get her to admit feelings that she wasn't entirely sure she felt. Sure, there was some chemistry, something between the two of them that just made them work as a pair. But she couldn't be sure it would make them work as something more. And she knew she liked him well enough, perhaps even held him in higher regard than that, but she wasn't going to say anything she wasn't certain on.

So she laid back down, her blankets wrapped tightly around her to keep all sound out as she desperately willed herself to sleep once again.

"Zelda? Zelda, speak to me." Alarink whispered once again, leaning his head back against the tent in exhaustion and exasperation. "Zelda… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

* * *

Despite her exhaustion and her determined will to go back to sleep, Zoelda didn't manage to drift back off. Instead she laid in pretend sleep for the rest of the night, her mind once again racing as she tried to figure out if she felt the same way for Alarink. As she tried to figure out when on earth she could have possibly made him feel like that for her.

Ultimately, she must have drifted off an hour or so before sunrise as the gradual lightening of her tent forced her eyes open again, feeling somewhat sandy and scratchy after another night of pitiful sleep.

With an annoyed sigh as her hands hit nothing but air as they reached instinctively for her phone, she pushed herself into a sitting position and glanced over to the place that Alarink had lent against her tent the night before. Though hardly surprised to see his sleeping figure still there, she was still annoyed by it.

People were meant to be flattered when someone told them they loved them, that's what Zoelda had always been told. But when it came from someone she hadn't known for a week in a _realm_ that wasn't even her own, with no one else around she could trust or confide in – though she hardly had that at home, to be fair – it was something else entirely.

It wasn't that she didn't care for Alarink, or that she didn't care for his feelings for her; it's just that she didn't know what to say or do when someone confesses their love for you and you're not sure if you feel the same way.

So, she sighed again and began to change into her armour dress and weapons yet again.

At least they'd be done with all this before too much longer. If she could just avoid Alarink in this time she figured it wouldn't be much of a problem.

Of course she was forgetting the fact that they had literally relied on each other since she arrived and that she'd have to wake him up if she wanted to strike the tent since it was unlikely the others would be up yet.

So, stuffing her stuff back away in her bag, she made her way out of her tent into the light of the slowly waking morning. As she emerged, she looked over to where the sun was rising over the Lake, it's rays reflecting over the water and looking for all the world like a lake of spilt blood. In light of Ganondorf's resurrection, Zoelda wasn't entirely sure how long the lake of blood would remain an illusion of the sunrise.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced over to Alarink and where he lay against her tent. He was still clothed in only his robe, tightly pulled about him for warmth with a fist curled up in it likely from where he had pulled it about him during the night. His hood was down, as was his hair, both of which were splayed about his shoulders negligently. And, due to him being cloaked and asleep in his Twili robe, he was in his natural form - contact with that side of him seemed to bring it out in him, Zoelda guessed as she looked down at his pale blue face.

As she watched him breathe evenly, his face creased by bad dreams, Zoelda knelt down next to him. She could hardly deny that he was an attractive man, be he in Twili or Hylian form, marred only by that long bisecting scar across his chest that she now couldn't help but suspect was linked to how he would die. And, as she thought on it, she had to admit that he was a very interesting individual, one rather compatible to herself even if they were rather opposite. And yet, despite that…

She didn't love him, not in the way he wanted her to.

So she steeled herself, sighed, and prepared herself to give him the cold shoulder, figuring that was kinder. She knew it wasn't. But they were only a few days away from finishing this and her returning to her world.

And it would be much better for them both to live their separate lives after then.

Zoelda pointedly ignored the fact that Alarink was apparently destined to simply die, there was no way that could be the case.

Gently, she shook him awake, making sure her face was angry as she did – it would hardly be fair to wake him up to false hope, better to crush the dream immediately. It killed her to see his face turn from anger at being awoken, to hope at it being by her, to confusion at the look on her face before setting on ultimate resignation and sorrow, a tiny sad smile on his lips as he looked up at her.

"Morning." He muttered, rubbing his eyes with one hand while keeping his robe closed with the other.

"Morning." Zoelda muttered in response, removing her hand from his shoulder and standing up, planning on going over to the other tents to wake them then start on a breakfast.

"Um, Zo? About last night…" Alarink started, a hand over his eyes as he looked over at her standing before the rising sun.

"Don't take it back." Zoelda said quietly to him over her shoulder, not trusting herself to turn back and look at him properly, knowing she'd break down and tell him not to worry about it. It was illogical to do it this way, she knew, but she needed him to know she was pissed at him enough that she didn't want to talk to him for a while at least.

"What?" Alarink asked, confused and vaguely hopeful.

"Don't take back what you said last night. You clearly meant it and I don't want you to pretend that you don't. It's just that… I don't. I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same way. And I think it's best that we take some time apart for now."

She didn't look back to see him bury his face in his mismatched hands, to see him dig his nails into his scalp, she couldn't bear to see what this was doing to him. So instead, she watched the sunrise over the lake, bathing the world in a red and orange glow, a farmers warning, her father would have said.

"I've screwed this all up, haven't I?" He asked, his voice muffled by his hands. "Good Goddess, I've fucked up."

"No. That's what I'm doing." Muttered Zoelda in reply, willing herself not to whimper at the sound of loss and sorrow in his voice. It killed her to do this, but it was better than false and possibly misplaced hope, at least to her. "Let's finish this, Link. We can worry about this later."

As she began to walk over to the other tents to wake the others up, she vaguely heard Alarink slump back down and mutter, "There won't be later."

* * *

It took about half an hour for the others to all get up, dressed and packed away. Alarink had sat in misery for several minutes before sighing, getting up and going over to his tent to change into some appropriate clothing and out of his Twili skin. Zoelda had pointedly ignored him in this time, not wanting to break the illusion that she was unaware of the pain she was causing, that she didn't feel any pain in doing this.

As he disappeared into his tent, she slumped onto her heels next to the fire she was stirring up to cook a breakfast on, burring her face in her hands as she finally allowed the tears to fall.

This was the one thing no one had ever seemed to mention to her, the heartbreak one experiences when breaking someone's heart. People only ever saw someone who had had their heart broken, they were there to console that person and condemn the person who had broken their heart. The heartbreaker was never meant to show sorrow in their choice, they were meant to act as though it hadn't physically destroyed them to hurt someone they had once cared about, or perhaps still cared about.

It was a failing of the modern world for people to be expected to act like this, because the Gods knew that Zoelda was not emotionally equip enough to pretend that it wasn't killing her to break her friend's heart. Because they knew she cared for him, they knew she could one day even love him. But because she couldn't right now, it seemed in her opinion to be fairer to not provide him with false hope and string him along until the fight in a few days. The girl had never even had a relationship and now she was expected to know how to handle breaking up from one.

So, she cried silently into her hands by a fire as the sun rose and the world was silent, willing no one to wake up or come out and see her doing this.

Willing no one to see the heartbreaker heart broken.

* * *

It was Shad who came out first and saw her cracking Cucco eggs into a frying pan some minutes later. On a set of plates beside her were already a few slices of not particularly well-cooked toast and a hunk of cheese from the night before. Zoelda never pretended to be a good cook, but at least she knew how to cook eggs so they wouldn't give someone salmonella, which is all she really needed as she willed herself to stop weeping over them.

"Good morning, Zelda." Said Shad as he came over to the plates beside her, helping himself to some toast. "Sleep well, old girl?"

"Oh, um. Morning, Shad," she mumbled into the pan as she wiped her face of tears and pushed the eggs with a spatula. "Um, yeah, I did. How did you sleep?"

"Not too bad considering the lingering presence of evil." He joked, getting a forced little laugh out of Zoelda as she came over and put the eggs onto a plate for people to help themselves from. As she walked past Shad, he stopped her and looked up into her face, noting her red eyes and nose. "My girl, what's wrong?"

Zoelda half chuckled at herself, waving the frying pan in one hand as she wiped her eyes with the other again. It was everything she could do not to break down before him there and then, tell him exactly what he'd done. Instead she continued to laugh/cry as he looked up at her, worried behind his glasses. Then, remembering their conversation from yesterday, she smiled and said: "I want to go home."

And then she broke down again, dropping the frying pan onto the floor so she wouldn't accidentally press it's burning base against her forehead as she began to cry again. Sure, that wasn't really why she was so upset, but she wished she could've been with her father then, have him hug her and tell her it would all be okay. Instead she got the man who had sort of been a father to the man she was crying about hugging her instead, smoothing her hair down and telling her it would be all over soon, she'd be back before she knew it.

Unfortunately, she was still crying when Link and the Princess emerged happily from their shared tent, all packed and ready to go. Gods how she hated seeing them like that! They stopped smiling pretty sharpish when they saw Zoelda pulling away from Shad and wiping her eyes.

"Zoelda? Whatever's the matter?" The Princess asked, coming over to her, her face a mask of concern.

"Oh," she muttered, picking up the frying pan and throwing it into a bucket of water and making it sizzle. "I'm just feeling a little homesick, nothing to worry about."

"I'm sorry." The Princess hugged her quickly. "It'll be over soon and you'll be back before you know it. But right now, let's just sit and eat, we've still got a bit left before we can call it over after all."

The Princess forced Zoelda down to eat with them, despite her wavering protests of not really being all that hungry that morning. So she sat uncomfortably eating the food she made for a few moments as she listened to the Princess whisper to her knight and watched Shad read his books. She might not have been genuinely homesick before, but she certainly was as she watched the others ignore her.

Just as she finished her last bite and stood up to start taking down the Princess' and Link's tent, Alarink emerged from his with a phoney smile on his lips, looking for all the world like nothing had changed in the last few days apart from his dye mysteriously disappearing from his ginger hair.

Their eyes met before they could look elsewhere.

They both flinched and looked down. They nodded politely to one another. They carried on in other directions.

They both hid the tears in their eyes and put on fake smiles. His was more practiced than hers, though neither were particularly believable.

They both realised they had a long few days ahead of them.

So they pretended nothing was wrong as Alarink went over to where the others were sat with the food, helping himself and flopping down to take the piss out of the Princess and Link while Zoelda rolled her eyes and started taking down the other tents. They might have ruined it all and made everything about twenty times more uncomfortable between them, but at least they could keep up the appearance that nothing had changed over breakfast by simply having Alarink act like his usual dickish self.

* * *

About a quarter of an hour later, while Zoelda was checking the horses over and attaching the remaining packs and bags to them, the other started moving and planning what to do from here. Zoelda couldn't say she was particularly paying attention to Alarink, Shad and the Princess planning the quickest route to the Sacred Grove, but every time she heard Alarink's voice she started and forced herself to stop listening again. It was a horrible way to pass the time, with only her thoughts to distract her as she desperately tried not to listen.

Instead of listening, she passed the time checking the horses over for cuts, scrapes or signs of exhaustion. She found none after the first few minutes of inspection, but still hung around with Rogue, making a show of checking his leg over instead of going back to join the others. Clearly the horse found this confusing, snorting often and looking down at his rider with a depth of confusion behind his dark eyes.

"It's a horse, Zo," Alarink shouted at her after a few minutes, causing her to start and blush as she looked over at where he was stood next to the dying fire, a phoney grin on his lips that tried to hide the tears standing plainly in his eyes, desperately trying to act normal despite the pain.

"I, I know that, Alarink," she replied, trying to sound normal as the others came over to her and the horses. "I was just checking them over for any signs that they might be getting tired."

"Find any?"

"No, I don't think so…" She turned her gaze downwards to avoid his eyes as he led Malanya out. He might have had an entire lifetime of practice deceiving people and hiding his pain, but Zoelda hadn't had to hide any serious pain since her mother died. Pretending nothing was wrong or had changed wasn't easy and she dearly wished Alarink wasn't so good at it.

"Alright then, shall we be off? It's a long journey back to Faron!" With that, Alarink tugged Malanya's reins and started the leading walk back up to the Great Bridge of Hylia's level.

It was a quiet walk, both because of the uncomfortable situation between Alarink and Zoelda and because of the lingering unease that they were now heading towards the final confrontation, the battle that would remove Demise from a physical human form forever. Regardless, it was simply a long and uncomfortable walk back up to the Bridge from the lake side and Zoelda tried desperately not to think too much as they climbed, keeping her eyes firmly focused on the scenery instead of listening to the quiet conversation of the Princess and Link or of Alarink to Shad.

When they finally reached the Bridge, it was about the middle of the morning and the signs that Ganon was once again taking a hold of Hyrule were obvious in the sheer number of monsters roaming the fields. The group looked out at the monster swarming trail to Southern Hyrule field apprehensively before Alarink turned to Shad with a sad smile.

"I believe this is where we part ways, old friend." Said he, his eyes flecked with tears, both those to do with Zoelda's rejection and those to do with saying goodbye to his oldest friend. "May your days be fortuitous."

"Don't make me say goodbye, my boy," Shad said, his eyes tearing behind his glasses. "I'm not any good at them and I don't like what you're about to do."

"It unfortunately can't be changed, Shad. Trust me, I've been looking for a way for years now. Best just get on with it, I think."

"Well then, old boy," Shad brought the taller ginger in for a tight hug. "Good luck, don't let us down."

"I'll do my best not to." Alarink said into his shoulder as he hugged him back. "I'll make a special point not to for you, if you'd like."

"Never change, my boy." Said he, pulling away and wiping his glasses as he began to turn to face Zoelda. "Never change."

Looking at a man who had, however briefly, known her mother brought a lump to Zoelda's throat as she leant down and embraced him. Goodbyes had never been a strong suit of hers and she wasn't particularly enthused about having to say goodbye to someone she knew she'd never see again. So she just hugged him, willing herself not to cry again as she did.

"Good luck, my girl." Shad whispered in her ear as he pulled back. "And try to work through whatever caused this rift between you and Link, it's killing him."

"I'll see what I can do, Shad." Zoelda replied, halfway earnestly as she looked over to where Alarink was mounting Malanya, seeing him wiping his face of tears as inconspicuously as possible. "Stay safe."

Shad nodded and started over to where his horse stood, ready and waiting at the edge of the Bridge while Zoelda settled herself into Rogue's saddle.

"Good luck, safe travels!" Shad shouted to them as he turned to the north and ultimately back to help get those in Hyrule Castle Town to safety, the group starting at a slow walk to the south.

"Goodbye, Shad." Alarink said quietly, half to himself it seemed as he heard the steady beat of horse hooves over the cobbled stone of the Bridge. After a few moments, he shook his head and spurred Malanya into a run, leaving the others to look in his wake for a moment before spurring their own mounts on in the general direction of Faron and the Sacred Grove.

* * *

There were many more monsters in their path than there had been previously, so they didn't make particularly good time on their way south. Even without stopping to eat lunch – and without stopping at the death of every monster for Alarink to shout profanities at it, his heart just didn't seem to be in it as he rode them down with a single "fuck you" each time – it still took them until the middle of the afternoon to arrive at the path leading to the Sacred Grove.

Zoelda only remembered it being a broken off path that lead to the misty Lost Woods of the Skull Kid before reaching the Temple and Grove itself in the Twilight Era, and it certainly didn't look like a particularly easy path as they reined their horses in just before the bridge leading up to the old Forest temple.

"How do we get to the Grove?" Zoelda asked as she swung down from Rogue, landing on her bad leg with only a dull thudding pain. Whatever ointment Shad had administered to it yesterday had clearly helped to ease the pain if nothing else, and Zoelda had been careful not to get hit or put herself in any danger on the ride down. Quite contrastingly, as she looked over at him for an answer, Alarink had gone out of his way to put himself in harm's way on the ride, deliberately running into clusters of Bulbins and Bokoblins with the Master Sword raised to strike.

It was some small miracle that he didn't actually get injured in his rampage, though the look on his face as he checked his arms over for injuries seemed to suggest he wasn't particularly satisfied with that.

"I haven't the faintest idea," he replied as he looked over his left arm for any cuts. Though they weren't on the best of terms or anything now, it still upset Zoelda to see Alarink so willing to get injured, to throw his life away before the final battle… where it would be necessary for him to throw his life away, apparently. "Damn, not a single cut… Princess?"

"I can open a way, but I suggest we take some time to eat first." Zelda answered, pulling what was left of a loaf of bread out for them to eat alongside a round of cheese.

"So what's this way of yours?" Alarink asked as he cut himself some food with his dagger. Though, as per usual, he was sat next to Zoelda, the two didn't make any kind of contact as they ate, and Zoelda could tell his questioning the Princess had nothing to do with curiosity, it was simply a way to fill the silence that would befall them if they left the Princess to whisper with Link. And it was easier to make conversation with the Princess look natural than it would be with each other.

"It's a Royal Family secret cut-through," said the Princess between bites. "I don't expect you to know about it."

"Try me." Alarink responded with a flash of a grin, a sight only marred by his saddened eyes.

Princess Zelda gave him a look before sighing and looking off to the west in the general direction of the Grove that they couldn't see. "Normally, the Hero needs to overcome much difficulty – specifically the Lost Woods – to access the Temple of Time. However, due to the Royal family's connection to the Temple, we are able to call on the Goddess to provide us a more convenient route."

"Because the Princesses are rarely physically able enough to traverse the Hero's path?" He asked, clearly pushing for a fight. As much as Zoelda somewhat doubted the Princess' explanation as it posed the question of why would the Royal family ever put the Hero through all those trials if they could access it easier – though she supposed the explanation for why not revolved around needing to test the Hero's worthiness – she was willing to accept it for the sake of moving on and actually going to the Temple.

"I know you're trying to be funny, Alarink," the Princess half glared at him as she finished her food. "But, yes, as the Vessels of the Goddess Hylia, we Princesses aren't built for physical prowess, only mental."

"Wow, actually giving in to me, Princess?" Alarink seemed genuinely surprised as he rose to his feel and brushed himself off. "You feeling well?"

"Just a little on edge about the physical embodiment of evil taking over my Castle and impatient to stop him."

"You worry about that too much," he joked as he put his leftovers into Malanya's saddlebags.

"And you too little," the Princess replied with a slight scowl as she walked over to a west wall of solid earth. "Try to take this seriously, Alarink. If only for our sakes."

"I won't make promises." He whispered as he brushed past Zoelda to stand behind the Princess. At the light brush of him against her as she stood up, Zoelda flinched and forced herself not to openly blush or react. Of course, she did blush and her hands were tightly balled into fists as she rose to her feet and wondered over to the two of them, but only Link could see her then, and if he noticed, he didn't react.

"Be silent." The Princess snapped then, not really in anger or annoyance, just in concentration as she approached the wall with her hands in the prayer pose at her chest. The blonde girl was muttering some incantation under her breath in what must have been Hylian and as Zoelda moved to stand next to Link - who was in the middle of her and Alarink a few feet behind the Princess - she noticed that it was the lyrics to the Ballad of the Goddess, bastardised over centuries of repetition, but vaguely recognisable nonetheless.

Unfortunately, while it generated a small golden glow around the Princess and a disturbance in the wall, it didn't seem to do much else, much to her anger.

"Wow, this method of yours is great, Princess," Alarink sneered, deliberately trying to work her up. Clearly, he was on the war path today.

"Why isn't it working?" Princess Zelda muttered to herself as she looked up from her prayers, confusion, worry and annoyance all chasing each other on her features.

"Mind if I help?" Zoelda asked, pulling the small harp out of her dress and looking at it closely.

"I don't think you'd be any help, Zoelda." The Princess snapped, straightening herself and moving back into the prayer pose.

"I'm of Goddess blood too, Princess," Zoelda pointed out with a small smile as she plucked the strings with her fingernails, making sure they were in tune. "And I know the true melody you're trying to sing."

With that, Zoelda started up the simple Ballad on the harp that had once belonged to Hylia herself, if she believed the legends. After a few seconds of the group staring at her in surprise – not the least Alarink who looked at her as though she was both something terrifying and beautiful – Zoelda raised an eyebrow at them and moved to stand next to the Princess, plucking the strings from the beginning again before she began singing the Ballad in English.

The disturbance in the wall grew with this, almost giving a distorted view of the Temple Grounds. It also caused a slight golden glow to Zoelda herself, nothing that the others really saw, but one she definitely noticed originating from her Triforced hand. She turned to the Princess and gave her a look to say "join in" as she struck up the Ballad again.

Together, in an odd but strangely perfect harmony, the two sung the Ballad of the Goddess, one in Hylian, one in English, both mesmerising and mellifluous. They started to glow together as the disturbance in the wall grew even more defined and gave a sight to the Temple Grounds not unlike one you might have seen through water.

Behind them, the two Links watched in shock and awe, amazed by the serenity and sincerity of the song to the Goddess. Entranced by the beauty of the Goddess' blood performing before them.

And, as Zoelda plucked the final note and the girls hit the final harmony, the way opened clearly, their glow shimmering before fading out. Before them, on the west wall, was an instant portal to the Temple of Time.

Sure, there was a part of Zoelda that saw just how illogical this was, but it was pretty much silenced by her amazement at the view before her and the fact that she and the Princess had opened it together. Turning to look to her right, she saw Princess Zelda just as amazed, an open grin on her face as she turned to look at her long lost distant cousin.

"Thank you." Said the Princess simply to her, too surprised to do anything else, it seemed.

"Don't mention it." Zoelda replied as she hid the harp back away in her dress.

"Well," Alarink said from behind them, "as amazing as this is, I think we should head forwards and get this Sword blessed rather than wasting anymore time."

"I thought you weren't worried about the lingering threat of evil," said the Princess as the group walked up to the portal. As Zoelda got a closer look at it, she realised it looked rather two dimensional in a way the portals to the Twilight Realm hadn't – this was clearly just a means of travelling from one place to the next in a single realm as opposed to interealm travel.

"I'm not," Alarink said as he stepped through the portal first, the Princess close behind followed then by Link and finally Zoelda. "But I am worried about the lingering threat of night when we still have much to do."

The sight of the Temple of Time, taken over by ivy and falling down due to negligence in some places, brought a great sense of calm and tranquillity to Zoelda, the kind of calm that she hadn't felt in years and that made her stop worrying about everything going on in the worlds and between her and Alarink. It made her realise that, despite endless wars for the Triforce, despite everything that had ever and could ever come to pass, the Temple and time itself was as unchangeable as anything in any worlds – standing tall as the Sealed Temple in the Era of the Sky and crumbling in the wilderness that was Breath of the Wild's Hyrule.

It was humbling and awe-inspiring as she stared up at something every Link, every Zelda, since the Era of the Sky had looked at. The place Zelda had cocooned herself in orange glass, the place where Fi said goodbye, the place where Link had slept for seven years, the place where the Triforce had lived; it stood before her in marble and ivy, sending shivers up her spine as she saw a sight that made her feel like she belonged, like this world was a part of her.

"What else could you possibly have to do today, Alarink?" The Princess asked in a respectfully quiet voice despite her waspish exasperation.

"Like I said yesterday," Alarink replied in a calm and respectful voice, also humbled by the sacred site before them. "I need to get one more blessing and pick up my armour from the treehouse before we can fight evil."

"Oh, so you got the blessing of Lanayru last night, I take it?" Princess Zelda asked innocently enough as the group made their way over to the Grove where the pedestal of the Master Sword stood. It was her innocence to it all that made Zoelda flinch the most, as she remembered the blessing getting last night and the subsequent rift that had grown between her and Alarink. Clearly, the mention of the night before made Alarink flinch as well, a glance at Zoelda and shiver he hid by making it look like he was just reaching to get the Master Sword out of its sheath confirmed as much.

"Yes, I did." Alarink said shortly as he stepped up to the pedestal, trampling a small path of waving, long grass down as he did. "Now, we need to bless this."

For a moment, he got himself into a steady stance, holding the Sword in both hands above his head and preparing to plunge it down. Zoelda was only half watching this, instead focusing most of her attention on the three small flowers growing around the Sword. Evidently, the Silent Princess had been growing for many centuries, even if it was only these three plants for eons.

Then he turned abruptly, tossing the Sword the other way around in his hand and presenting it hilt first to Link. Obviously, the Princess and Link were shocked by this, though Zoelda could only roll her eyes as she braced herself for Alarink to say something dickish to the knight.

"Here, 'Link', you best do this. I don't think I'm worthy."

Link glared as Alarink chuckled and turned back, flipping the Sword back over and thrusting it in casually with one hand.

Then something happened that no one was expecting, something that hadn't happened in the history of the Legends: The Sword's Spirit popped out with a graceful backflip.

Staring at all their shocked faces with featureless eyes, Fi turned all of her attention to Alarink and bowed. Startled, Alarink could only stare in shock, his left hand still tightly coiled around the hilt.

"Vessel of the Hero's Spirit," Fi said to him with her almost metallic voice. "I bless you on this quest to remove Demise's Hylian form."

"Oh, um, thank you, Spirit of the Sword," Alarink actually stuttered for what must have been one of the first times in existence. "I graciously accept your blessing."

Then Fi turned to Zoelda and somehow managed to bow even more gracefully to her. "Mistress. Steel your broken heart and move wisely against the Evil, for this is all part of Hylia's plan. You, too, have my blessing."

"Thank you, Fi." Zoelda curtsied in response, confused by Fi calling her Mistress and her calling this all part of Hylia's plan and more than a little surprised by how well she was able to hold herself together as she replied. "I, too, accept your blessing."

With that, Fi gave curious look to the Princess and Link before giving a small smile and flipping back into the Sword and opening out the wing like portions of the pommel. After a few moments of staring at the Sword in its pedestal, Alarink finally withdrew it, looked it over for a few seconds, then sheathed it.

"I had no idea there was a spirit living in the Sword." Princess Zelda said as Alarink sheathed it.

"In all honesty, Zeldy, I didn't either," Responded Alarink, looking over at Zoelda in interest and a tinge of sorrow as he let his curiosity get the better of his unrequited feelings. "But you did, Zo. You even called her by her name, Fi was it?"

"Yes. Her name is Fi and she is the spirit Hylia entrusted with protecting the Master Sword after the first Sword Spirit went rogue and fused with Demise's blade." Zoelda told them in a quiet and respectful voice as they made their way back to the portal. Sure, there were parts of her explanation there that were not exactly accepted canon, but she doubted that they were going to know that. "I've had some more visual and I suppose accurate interaction with the old legends than you, it seems."

"No need to brag." Alarink said as they crossed back through to the horses. As Zoelda crossed the threshold last, it closed up behind her and returned to being just a simple wall once again as early evening began to settle on them, bringing with it the sound of crickets and owls.

"Just stating facts, A-Alarink." Zoelda stuttered on his name a little as she realised they were having a normal conversation. It shouldn't have made her stutter, it should have made her happy to have that kind of normalcy, but she was all too scared that this normalcy would disappear again without a trace when the morning came.

"This other Sword Spirit you spoke of, Demise's Sword, what's that called?" The Princess asked as they made their way over to the horses. Apparently they were going to pitch their tents closer to path leading out of Faron, in the little enclave that had housed Coco's lantern shop before the Pestilence, so that they could have a quick start when they awoke in the morning and be at the Castle before the afternoon wore on. Zoelda didn't really remember the discussion about it that morning, but she guessed that must have been the case as they mounted their horses again.

"I don't know what the Sword was called, or even if it and the Spirit exist anymore, but the Spirit was called Ghirahim."

"Interesting," Princess Zelda said as they rode beside each other back to the enclave. "You know a lot about our legends considering you didn't believe them to be real."

"I'm just a big fan of videogames, your Highness." Zoelda said modestly.

"Pardon me, but what are they?"

* * *

It didn't take them all that long to reach the enclave, set up camp and have dinner - they were finished before it even got properly dark – but Zoelda spent that time explaining what videogames were to the Princess of Hyrule, so it felt like an eternity.

By the time she had finished explaining, they had finished their meal and were preparing themselves for their last sleep before confronting Ganon. Understandably, they were all a little jittery that night, feeling the need to chat to cover their nerves – apart from Alarink who, despite having the most to lose, was as unfazed as ever. Eventually, as the last rays of a particularly red sun began to set, Alarink rose to go back to Ordon over night to grab his armour and get the last blessing from what had to be Ordona.

He made some joke about going and seeing if Ursila was about to have one last bang before he went out, but his heart wasn't really in it and the Princess was more interested in the concept of videogames than in providing him with a proper retort. So he just left and the rest of them began to file to their tents, worried and not particularly excited about what the next day would bring.

* * *

It was a little after midnight when Zoelda emerged, wrapped up in her blanket and barefoot, from her tent.

After having a rather troubled night of sleep, she had finally come to terms with the fact that there was one more thing she had to do before tomorrow if it was to go their way. So, grabbing a lantern from Rogue's saddlebag, she quietly lit the wick and started off on bare feet down the path to Faron Spring, her blanket wrapped around her like some kind of cloak and a sword swinging a dangerous low arch in front of her to deter monsters.

It took her perhaps an hour to arrive at the Spring, but she had been travelling slow and careful on bare feet, taking in the silent splendour that was the world at night. It was a universal truth that every realm was more beautiful when the world was asleep, only the dim light of the moon to play off of the leaves and grass while small nocturnal animals like rabbits and owls foraged for their breakfast. Of course, in any world there were predators around at night – Hyrule had the occasional baying of wolves in the woods to prove that, while England had their gangs, rapists and thieves.

Even still, there was something to be said about seeing an open body of water illuminated only by the dim light of a moon and the beauty that displayed.

That said, there was very little natural about the light that illuminated Faron Spring that night. Like Lanayru's, the light was mostly just that of fairies, though there was also an unearthly glow of a Spirit in its centre that Zoelda noticed immediately upon arriving. She also noticed the trail of Malanya's hoofprints that she had been following carried on past the Spring, indicating that Alarink did only have Ordona left to pray to.

At that point in time though, the last thoughts in her mind were on Alarink. Instead they focused on the Spring and the Spirit in it as she removed her blanket, revealing the clothes she had worn on the day she arrived – a Triforce printed tank top and a pair of leggings. In these clothes, Zoelda waded out into the lake water, her hands clasped together at her chest, begging herself not to start singing about being the ocean's grey waves.

Instead, she reached the centre of the lake, only ankle deep in water, and raised her head to look up at the Spirit light hovering over the waterfall. Gently, not really knowing why, she nodded to it. A second later, that light was four incandescently burning balls of Spirit light that eventually manifested themselves as the Light Spirits, a chorus of hums coming from them in one great harmony.

"Vessel of Hylia's Spirit," the monkey spirit who Zoelda remembered to be Faron said in a voice as masculine as Lanayru's had been. "I welcome you to My Spring and bless you in the name of my Goddess, Farore."

Then, much like there had been the night before, there was a presence in Zoelda's mind, seeming to expand it and give her access to more wisdom than before. And, after a brief touch by the other Spirit's minds to hers all at once, they were gone, leaving her mind feeling strangely empty as she looked up at the Spirits floating ethereally above her.

"Thank you all for your blessings," Zoelda said respectfully, still not entirely sure what these blessings were meant to achieve. "I will endeavour not to let you or your Goddess' down."

"Having unlocked the powers of the Goddess within you, we sincerely doubt you could let us down, Zelda." Faron said sweetly, watching her carefully.

"What are these powers you've unlocked within me?" She asked, knowing now would be the only time she could be so bold.

"They are the powers the Goddess gave you: light to banish evil and minor powers of sorcery that you will have to study yourself to make the most use of." Faron said.

"These powers are extraordinary." Zoelda said, not really sure when she'd use any of them, but thankful all the same. "Thank you for unlocking them for me."

"Not at all, Zelda. Thank you for gracing us with your presence and accepting our blessings. Now, please bathe briefly under my waterfall then head back, you will need all the energy you can get for tomorrow." With that, Faron and the other Light Spirits disappeared, leaving her in a surprisingly dark, though beautiful, Spring to go and bathe under the waterfall after a brief encounter with the Spirits.

On her way to the waterfall, she bumped into a fairy with her shin, causing it to spin around her and heal her wounds – that bite on her leg and the arrow scratch on her arm from a few days ago. Though initially upset to have bumped into a fairy, the benefits of having her wounds healed made her feel a lot better as she went to meditate under a cold waterfall - fully dressed - for a few moments.

Emerging from the cold waterfall, her body feeling purified and her thoughts quiet and tranquil for once, Zoelda picked up her blanket, wrapped herself up and headed back to her tent, listening to the sounds of the night as she did.

Despite being alert and listening, she still failed to notice the lone rider dressed all in black armour behind her as he walked his horse back to camp too. Alarink didn't mind the lack of attention as he watched her wonder her way back, the girl he loved but couldn't be with. The first girl who had turned him down.

The girl the Sword had called Mistress instead of calling him Master…

* * *

 _AN:_

 _So, I covered a lot of ground in this chapter because I wanted to spend as much time in the confrontation with Ganondorf as possible. As such, this is the longest of the last five chapters. The rest of them are all between 3000 and 6000 words, a more manageable length really._

 _The focus of this chapter was to establish Zoelda's more emotional side and to show how she deals with this world now that she knows what's going to happen and now that she doesn't have anyone else to lean on. She's in this hardest and last part alone and it's the only way to bring out her confidence as the heroine of this story._

 _So, while Alarink has known what's going to happen to him for years and has only just given in to it; Zoelda has just found out all of this in the past week and now has to handle it all on her own, her chin raised high to try and hide her vulnerability._

 _The one thing I wanted to mention here is the little description of the Temple of Time. Descriptions have never been what I'm best at, so I really liked how that particular description turned out in terms of the emotions it achieves rather than the picture it paints._

 _Anyway, the rest of these chapters are on the more violent side (the next one is the last one before the battle starts) and I've never had much experience writing violence before, so I don't know if they're technically good, but I sure as hell enjoyed writing them._

 _Also, thanks for the two reviews last week, I'm happy that people like seeing a more emotional Alarink, because (let me tell you) the emotional Alarink is here to stay. As is the more emotional writing style since, in my opinion, it's emotions that decide the fate of a battle - you can't be emotionally detached in that kind of situation, no matter what people say. And, as for a more vulnerable Zoelda, that's coming - she's practically cracking at the seams - keep an eye open for chapter 19, that's where she truly shines though you get glimpses of her coming into herself from next week._

 _So, have a nice week and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

 _~WWQ_


	17. 16 Hyrule Castle

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _16\. Hyrule Castle_

The curtain on the last day in Hyrule rose with the sun that day, a wine-purple colouring to the sky that showed Ganondorf's power was growing. The group was up before the rays of light even hit that enclave, taking a quiet and tense breakfast as they mentally prepared themselves for the day to come.

Link, as usual, was dressed in his tough green armour that made him look much like the heroes of Legend, though his plain and rust spotted sword gave more the illusion of a man charged with simply protecting the Crown.

The Princess still wore that pink armoured dress that fit her so much better than it did Zoelda, her hair arranged as it had ever been and her countenance as unchangeable by these events as it was when Zoelda had first arrived. That said, there was a certain amount of melancholia to the Princess today, a realisation that this encounter could make or break her kingdom.

And then there was Alarink.

On her brief survey of the others that morning over breakfast, an act she realised was a way of securing images of her companions before she went back home or died after today, she had tried not to look at the man she had first met in Hyrule. In the span of a week, she had come to care for him more than anyone outside her family she could think of back home. She had confided in him, had come to trust him and was now avoiding him after one wrong confession.

She might not love him, but she sure as hell cared for him.

So, as she looked over at him, the one who had changed her and who she had changed, she took in just how much his appearance had changed over the last week.

Most obviously, there was the ginger hair that was now held back by the onyx ring – he was also wearing his circlet for no obvious reason, though it wasn't like any of them were going to ask why. Then there were his clothes; a set of black armour with a blue trim that fit him so much better than anything else Zoelda had seen him in and a pair of fingerless gloves that were rather translucent against his skin. In this armour, Alarink looked much leaner and taller, at ease in his clothes and surroundings for once.

While he might have seemed at ease stature wise, his face certainly wasn't. Sharp, freshly shaven and sardonic, one might not have noticed the sleepless look in his pale eyes, the sorrow and haunting that hadn't been there when she'd first met him. An unobservant onlooker might have just seen Alarink as he normally was, smiling and looking for the next person to share a bed with; Zoelda saw more, whether she wanted to or not.

She could see the strain and the worry, the sheer fear that he was going to die at this encounter. She could see how his heart was broken for the first time after confessing feelings for someone. She could tell how much her presence was killing him, and how her lack thereof would destroy him.

But there he sat, smiling as he ate as though there wasn't a single thing wrong.

Zoelda herself was dressed once again in her ill-fitting armoured dress, gauntlets on and the shin protectors from the heeled boots savagely ripped off and tied to her legs by scraps of fabric. Instead of those impractical heeled boots, she wore her Docs – she didn't have to be enthused for this battle, but her feet could at least be comfortable.

As they packed up, the sun only just starting to reach their enclave, Zoelda began to think to herself, began to let her mind wonder to thoughts on what would happen next. Would she be happy to leave Hyrule behind, to return to the UK and carry on her life? Though questions like that plagued her all day – all week if she was being honest with herself – she barely looked at them, instead watching as they made their way to the Castle on their horses.

Briefly she wondered what might happen to Rogue and Malanya if Alarink was to die today. As was becoming her usual thought process, she wondered what might happen, then turned her thoughts to something else, not wanting to think about Alarink dying anymore than she wanted to think about what might become of her or the horses.

It was just before noon by the time they reached the drawn gate into Hyrule Castle Town. There had been very few monsters around on their journey across the field, and those that had been there had seemed awfully jumpy, flinching away from the Master Sword despite it being sheathed and half hidden under the folds of Alarink's Twili robe – again they didn't bother to question the Twili look he was going for in his Hylian skin, they simply accepted it with his forced smile.

They ate what was left of their food supplies, which admittedly wasn't all that much, and picketed their horses in the small stable that Zoelda and Alarink had left Rogue and Malanya in a few days before.

"After all this is done," Alarink said quietly as he stroked Malanya's mane; the severity of the day made them all talk infrequently, and only in hushed tones. "Could you take care of Malanya and Rogue in the royal stables for me? I'd hate to see them sent loose."

"Of course," said the Princess, looking over at the way Alarink was stroking his horse, at how much he obviously cared for her. "I wouldn't want to see Epona's blood just set loose myself."

"Thank you." Alarink said with a sigh as he patted Malanya one last time before going to stand with Link by the closed drawbridge. Despite a rocky start to their companionship, Zoelda had to admit that it was rough to say goodbye to Rogue too, patting him gently with tear filled eyes as she mentally steeled herself. She couldn't cry over leaving a horse, she just couldn't.

Flashing him a quick smile, she jogged away from Rogue to stand with the others by the closed drawbridge, half-listening as the Princess urged the bridge worker to lower it for them. After a few moments of discussion, the bridge worker reluctantly lowered the bridge and let the four in, the Princess and Link walking together in front with Zoelda and Alarink just behind, all of them determined with their weapons drawn.

The determination and drawn weapons – probably alongside the company – meant that many of the guards dotted around here and there only sneered at Alarink, always looking like they wanted to call him a name but the term "Bastard Prince" always dropping from their lips before they could say it. And the hazy, evil wine-purple cloud that was covering the Castle and blocking out much of the sun in town seemed to laugh at them as they made their way further into the strangely, though rightly, deserted streets.

As they approached the fountain where, only a few days before, Alarink had had his shirt ripped, they saw a large group of guards stood at the base of the stairs leading up to the Castle. The four approached cautiously, wondering why they could be stood in such a way, clearly avoiding going up the stairs for whatever reason.

"What's the problem, Officer?" Princess Zelda asked, sheathing her sword as she approached, the rest of them close behind.

"Princess!" The guards saluted her crisply before turning to sneer at Alarink. "You're keeping odd company."

"The company I keep is none of your concern and Alarink is a key player in this event." The Princess said icily, her eyes glaring and telling the guards not to push their luck. As the officer in charge threw a quick glance at Alarink, the ginger offered a grin back with a flirty little wave. It was nice to see that Alarink was still Alarink at the end of it all. "Tell me what's going on here, why aren't you on the steps?"

"Your Highness, there is an evil barrier preventing us climbing any further or getting into the Castle." The officer said slightly frightened, gesturing to this invisible barrier he spoke of.

"I see nothing, Officer," the Princess sniffed, looking up the stairs and noting nothing different, despite the evil cloud hovering over her Castle behind the stairs. Clearly, she couldn't understand the concept of invisibility. "Can you prove this barrier exists for me?"

The officer looked at her dubiously before taking out his sword and pushing it up the stairs. Sure enough, as the sword came into contact with this invisible barrier covering the stairs from bottom to top, it caused sparks to fly, clearly proving its existence. Alarink whistled lowly as he saw it, not surprised by it being there or at the sword not penetrating it, but surprised it would go to such lengths to deflect even a mere sword.

"I see…" Princess Zelda said, moving forward with her marked right hand outstretched. "I'll get rid of this."

The group and the guards watched her stand there for a few moments, expecting some kind of glow and glass shattering of the barrier, but nothing happened. As the anticipation of something happening was left unsatisfied, the Princess glared at the barrier and her own hand.

"Why isn't this working?!" She shouted, evidently embarrassed by making everyone watch as nothing happened.

Saying nothing, not even moving from her position behind the Princess – who once again had her hand outstretched and was concentrating very hard on breaking the barrier – Zoelda raised her own marked hand, pointed at the barrier and clicked her fingers. Her Triforce flared up and the barrier was engulfed in a golden light. The light spread around the barrier, creating fissures as it travelled, like a spider on a web. Then, quite suddenly with a loud crack, it shattered like glass.

They all stood in amazement for a moment, not the least the Princess who seemed to know it hadn't been her who did that, but took credit for it nonetheless. "See, I told you I could break it."

Only Alarink, who was stood to Zoelda's right, had seen the truth. With a raised eyebrow, he looked at her, silently asking whether he should tell the Princess it was she who had done it. After a moment, Zoelda shook her head – better to let the Princess believe it was her doing than to take it away from her. Alarink kept his eyebrow raised for a moment before nodding and walking past the Princess and Link.

"Shall we then?" He asked. "No need to dawdle and admire our handiwork when there's a monster redecorating your Castle."

Stunned by his response, the Princess and Link could only stand and stare while Zoelda pushed past them too and ran up the stairs to the Castle courtyard after Alarink. Only a moment or so later, she heard the sound of Link and the Princess following them.

Alarink waited until they all reached the top before he threw the doors to the courtyard open, giving sight to a red and purple dust enclosing the entire complex. The sun couldn't penetrate the cloud, so everything was dim, coloured strangely and dusty enough to induce coughing in all parties. There were a few monsters wondering about the courtyard, mostly minding their own business but the ground was littered with bones picked clean and scraps of guard uniforms.

"I think I'm going to be sick…" The Princess announced upon seeing a flock of Kargaroks flying in to pick apart a Bulbin who had been pushed off his perch by his peers.

"This is insane," Zoelda said, watching the bird monsters with a hand over her mouth, her face even paler than normal as she stared through the cloud and up at the statue in the fountain, unsurprised to find it being used as a giant Kargarok nest. "This is actually insane, this is monsters eating monsters, this is…"

"Ganondorf." Alarink said simply, watching the horrors of the monsters through the blood like clouds with cold eyes and a detached expression, though he too was noticeably pale. Reaching over his shoulder, he drew the Master Sword and flipped his hood up, causing his skin to turn Twili as he started at a slow walk towards the Castle's main doors, swinging the Sword threatingly as he went. Zoelda loosened her swords from their sheaths and readied her bow, moving equally low and slow behind him. Behind her came the Princess, her single rapier held loose in her hand and Link was behind her, his rust spotted sword sweeping clear arcs around him as he brought up the rear.

They were fallen upon by many monsters as they made their way to the Castle doors, but the monsters all fell beneath their weapons, the Kargaroks never seeing Zoelda's arrows coming. Alarink, wanting to keep the appearance of being quiet, kept his swearing at the monsters to mutters under his breath, but nonetheless habitually made comment after every monster fell.

By the time they'd made it to the doors they were monster splattered and disgusted by the carnage that lay behind them, the littered bones and guard outfit scraps that suggested that the former attacks hadn't gone all that well. The Princess, of a delicate constitution, had retched a few times on their way to the Castle and was very noticeably pale, though she was yet to actually vomit.

Alarink, noticing her pallor and weighing up what they could face on the main route inside the Castle, made a suggestion that he didn't necessarily like at that point. "It would be dangerous to split up, but we're going to need the Bow of Light if we're to get some actual damage on Ganondorf. Princess, do you and Link want to go and fetch that and we'll meet you before the Throne room?"

"How do you know Ganondorf will be in the Throne room?" The Princess asked, pushing her hair from her face with a shaking hand.

"I don't," Alarink admitted, pulling on his hoop earring – it was then that Zoelda noticed that, in his Twili form, he had one blue ear and one black. "But it makes sense for him to be there considering it's the biggest room in the place and he's going to want to make a big appearance."

"…Fine." The Princess conceded, straightening up and nodding to Link. "We'll meet the two of you there. Good luck."

"And you." Alarink said encouragingly before jogging up the stairs to the Castle doors and pushing them open. As they flew open with a dull thud, the Princess and her knight made a run to the left corridor while Alarink and Zoelda moved at a slow crouch to the right.

They followed the exact same route to the Throne room that they had on that second day, yet everything was subtly different, a purple and red haze covering everything and making Zoelda cough at intervals. The furniture hadn't actually changed, but monsters lounged where the courtiers had and made even ruder comments about the two of them in their monster-ese. With a bow and the Master Sword Alarink and Zoelda made quick work of any monsters who got too close.

It was pleasant in a way, Zoelda thought as they started up some stairs back to back. While fighting, while trying to rid the world of evil, the two of them had no time to feel awkward or uncomfortable around each other, instead they could only protect one another as they made their way to the heart of the Castle.

When they made their way into a long corridor lined with suits of armour, it occurred to Zoelda immediately that they were entering into a fight with a series of Darknuts. Alarink, not knowing anything about the little battles that occurred in the legends, saw this as the perfect opportunity to stop for a moment and catch his breath.

"Quite the journey, huh?" He said to her casually, sheathing the Master Sword.

"We're making small talk now?" Zoelda asked a little angrily - not really at him but at the monsters for never letting up in spite of her exhaustion - readying her bow with another arrow.

"It's better than walking down a long, deserted corridor in silence," Alarink said, throwing his hood down and returning to his Hylian skin. "Why are you drawing your bow, there's nothing here."

"Are you really so simple, Alarink?" She asked, aiming at the slot in the visor of the armour of a nearby suit. "These suits are possessed."

"Don't be silly, Zelda." Alarink walked over to the suit Zoelda was aiming at, moving to put his hand on its arm.

"Don't touch that!"

"It can't hurt me!" He said as he rested his elbow against its shoulder, kicking his foot over the other and relaxing against it. "See, it's just a suit."

Then the Darknut woke, immediately moving to draw its sword with the arm Alarink was leaning against, knocking him to the floor with a startled string of profanities as he began to draw the Master Sword. Before he'd even loosened the Sword, Zoelda had twanged an arrow into the monster's visor, piercing whatever worked as a brain in that possessed shell.

"You're welcome," she said as she helped him to his feet before readying another arrow. "Come on, let's move through here before any of the rest of them wake up."

Half dragging Alarink by the wrist behind her as she jogged the hall, she didn't notice the small, sad smile on his lips and the unshed tears in his eyes as he realised that, as soon as they entered the Throne room, he'd be gone. That this could very well be the last time he saw Zoelda so authoritative and badass.

"Wait." He said quietly as Zoelda reached for the door at the end of the corridor, the door that would lead to the stairs to the Throne room.

"What?" Zoelda asked, letting go of his wrist and lowering her bow, now sure there were no Darknuts waiting to attack, at least not unless they provoked them.

"I just… I don't know what's going to happen in here."

"And you think I do?" She asked him incredulously before noticing the deeply sorrowful look on his face, a smile so sadly sincere that she realised he knew exactly what would happen to him, and as he realised he would give into it time and time again for her safety and happiness. "Look, here's what's going to happen: You're going to take that Sword and stab Ganondorf out of existence once and for all."

"Now you're the one being simple, Zo," Alarink smiled at her, looking past her in thought. "I'm not the one to use the Sword in this battle, the spirit practically confirmed that when she called you Mistress instead of calling me Master. No, I have no idea what's going to happen, and I doubt I'm going to see whatever it is."

"Don't think like that, Alarink." Zoelda said, more for her own sanity than for his. Despite everything, in spite of it all, she still couldn't bear the idea of him dying in there. "Your destiny isn't just to die."

"You know, while I was speaking to my mother, she said to me 'Tell her you love her before you die, don't live the rest of your life in regret because you're a too proud Twili.'" Alarink continued as though Zoelda hadn't said he wasn't going to die. A moment later his sad, tear studded eyes refocused on her, his small, sad smile twitching on his lips. "I couldn't bear to go out without telling you how I feel, Zo, I didn't want to make the same mistake my mother made."

"Alarink…" She interrupted, trying to make him stop talking before one of them or the other burst into tears, trying to make him believe he still had a future when he clearly thought he didn't. "Stop."

"No, I know you don't feel the same, and I won't force myself on you, I won't make this any harder than it has to be but," he stooped down and gently kissed her cheek, making her start a little in surprise and stand there dumfounded when he pulled back, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated sorrow, his eyes so clouded with tears she was surprised they hadn't yet spilled over.

"I, I had to tell you, one last time." He smiled and chuckled that crying chuckle under his breath as he turned away to wipe his eyes, spreading tear stains across his cheeks. "I love you, Zelda. And I'm sorry."

With that, he pushed open the door and walked through, leaving her to stand their dumbly for a moment before jogging after him – her mind a mix of emotions that she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

But, as the door shut behind her, she realised she was out of thinking time. The three others were already stood at the foot of the stairs, the Princess with the Bow of Light strung over her back looking slightly less pale than she had while they were outside.

"Are you ready?" She asked Alarink and Zoelda as they came to stand to the right of her at the bottom of the stairs. Zoelda desperately tried to catch Alarink's eye before nodding, but he was stood tall and ready, alert as a soldier ready to enter perceived suicide mission. So, she was left on her own as she sighed and nodded to the Princess.

"Then let us begin."

They walked up the stairs at a steady march, the light from the Throne room growing ever brighter and cutting through the red and purple cloud of evil that hovered over everything in the Castle.

And as they reached the top of the stairs there was a blinding flash of bright white light…

* * *

 _AN:_

 _So, this is it, the last chapter before the battle._

 _These last four chapters were something of an experiment for me, and I kind of went totally off my plan in writing them. So instead of a somewhat stale, planned ending to this story, I ended up with an emotional and violent final confrontation._

 _Call this chapter the last calm before the storm if you like; I certainly look at it that way._

 _There's not much more I need to say here, I'll talk about the next chapter in the next chapter's note but, if you're reading this the day it's published, I just want to say happy Breath of the Wild day! Or Switchmas, if you prefer, though I only purchased a Switch last week..._

 _I think I actually started planning this story soon after I finished BOTW, though I can't quite be sure when it was that I finished the game anymore. Hell, I still play it at least once a month just to see the world and experience that sense of wanderlust._

 _But, though I had the bare bones of this story set out for much longer, it was after I started playing BOTW that it all started to come together. It was also while playing it that I realised that I could possibly put my two characters in a story about that game as well. Though I still wonder whether or not I could, I've recently decided that I probably shouldn't. That's not to say that I won't, just that I have no plans to do so now._

 _So, basically, what I'm saying here is that, back when I first started planning this, I was also planning a sequel set in BOTW's Hyrule. I'm not anymore, but I have left the door open to do that if I suddenly get struck with inspiration._

 _Anyway, have a nice week and prepare yourself for next week's chapter, since it will contain not one, not two but THREE POVs. I_ _'ll let you guess who the third one belongs to!_

 _Until next week, enjoy!  
_

 _~WWQ_


	18. 17 The Battle

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _17\. The Battle_

It wasn't so much that the light was disorienting as it was blinding.

It took almost a minute for Link's eyes to adjust, for him to be able to see again. And once he could, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

He was alone in the Throne room, there was no one else there – no Ganondorf, no Alarink, no Zoelda.

No Zelda.

Hesitantly, he drew his sword from his sheath at his waist with a rusty hiss; he'd been too lazy to sharpen or clean it properly, something he was sorely wishing he had done as he surveyed the too quiet room.

Then he heard it, a small sob coming from behind him. Turning slowly, his sword point low and ready, as he had been instructed when he was first trained, he faced the sobber.

It was the Princess. His Zelda.

And she was clutching herself by the shoulders sobbing uncontrollably, her sword in her hand rather than sheathed as it had been on the jog up the stairs.

He didn't notice anything wrong with the situation. He couldn't see how the others not being there was an issue.

Everything faded away until all he saw was his Princess crying, holding onto herself while she did.

So, he called to her, sheathing his sword as he approached, a gloved hand outstretched.

It was only his years of training as a knight that saved him a cut through the middle of his left hand, a slice that ripped his glove in half and left his hand stinging though not bleeding.

A swipe that caused him to look up and stare at the girl before him, the girl who had given him purpose, who had taken him off the streets and into her Castle to be trained as her personal knight without a second thought. The girl he loved.

A Princess with a manic grin and wine-red eyes, washed out skin and visible veins. A Princess with a rapier in a hand being puppeteered by evil incarnate.

His Princess Zelda coming for him with her sword, ready to kill.

He could only hastily parry the next attack before she was striking again, causing him to jump back in surprise with a startled:

"Fuck!"

* * *

The light temporarily blinded Zoelda as she entered the room, meaning she didn't see where the others had gone. As her eyes adjusted, she couldn't even see where the light had gone; it was as dark as night in the room, leaving her even more confused.

"Alarink?" She called, her hands going to the swords at her waist and worming them loose. "Zelda? Link?"

There was no reply. The room was silent enough to hear a pin drop.

"…Ganon?"

The pin dropped.

Curtains flew open, letting in a white light far too bright for what she estimated to be early evening. And all she could see was a small pig in the centre of the room. The benches had been removed, stacked into a corner; the throne was empty and even in the illuminated far reaches of the arched ceiling, no pigeon was perched.

She was suspicious to say the least.

Where had her group gone? Where was Ganondorf? Where was this huge battle she was promised?

All she saw was a small black and red spotted pig, huddled up in a ball in the centre of the room.

Of course she was suspicious of it; but what could she do but call to it?

"Pig?" She whispered, her voice echoing all around the empty room alongside the one footstep she took forwards.

The pig snorted and whirled around, revealing bright red eyes and tiny tusks. A large grey cross on its forehead.

"Shit!" Zoelda shouted as the small thing ran up to her, growing in size with every step. It was almost on her as she ran up to the stacked benches in the corner, climbing up them with a speed to rival professional climbers. And a sheer number of swears per minute to rival sailors.

As soon as she reached the top of the bench pile, she jumped, trying to get out of the reach of the boar's now arm long tusks. Grabbing a hold of one of the curtains as she leaped, more than a little surprised that it held her weight, she quickly scrabbled up it. No easy task when there's a ten-foot-long, five-foot-tall boar ripping the thing to ribbons with its tusks that just narrowly avoided Zoelda's feet as she climbed ever higher.

Finally, only a few moments later, she reached the curtain pole, just as the boar ripped the rest of the fabric down.

Standing precariously on the polished – somehow – curtain pole, she looked at her surroundings and the options they presented. The roof was arched and beamed – as any roof on a room that size would have to be – and made of an easier to stand on square wood.

Weighing up whether or not she could make the few feet leap to the nearest and higher up beam as Ganon's boar's tusks got ever closer to knocking her off with each jump it made, she finally decided 'fuck it' and stood up fully, balancing as carefully as possible in her precarious position.

The boar watched with its beady red eyes, snorting as it looked at its next meal.

Zoelda ignored it as best she could and took the leap.

It was perhaps the most foolish thing she'd ever done as she hit the beam she was aiming for chest first, wrapping her arms tightly around it as she got the wind knocked out of her.

Gripping onto it for dear life, panting and smiling as the boar grunted and snorted far below her, Zoelda began laughing under her breath before muttering:

"Parkour."

* * *

Moments after arriving in the room, the blinding light died down into the dusty red and purple glow that he expected to come from through the windows of the Throne room.

What Alarink hadn't expected was to come into the room alone.

"Zo?" He called, looking every way as his eyes adjusted themselves to the dim light. "Zelda? Princess? Alarink? … _'Link'_?"

No one replied. But, as he turned back to the entrance of the room - the Master Sword once again in hand, despite the fact that he hadn't managed to kill anything with it on the way up (as he had somewhat expected) - he realised he wasn't alone.

Behind him in the entry way, as motionless as statues, were the others.

'Link' and the Princess were facing one another, her face washed out and veins prominent; there was a cut across his left palm that wasn't bleeding, though clearly painful.

And Zoelda was stood on her own, her hands at her swords and her eyes staring steadily, though scared, forward. Alarink waved his hand in front of her eyes, but there was no response. From any of them.

As he approached her, planning on shaking her shoulders, he encountered another invisible barrier. One that wasn't designed to keep them out as much as it was designed to keep him from interfering.

And also to keep him in the room.

"What have you done to her- _them_?" He shouted to the shadow on the throne as he put his shoulder against the barrier to no avail.

A laugh. A low, evil laugh that slowly built to a crescendo of evil noise as the shadow took a step down from the throne.

"Yes, okay, I get it," Alarink said impatiently, crossing his arms. "You have enormous lungs due to being an enormous guy that means that you can laugh an enormously evil laugh. Get to the point, Ganon."

"Ganon _dorf_." A deep voice corrected pedantically as the owner came into view. He was, indeed, Ganondorf, the demon/Gerudo king. And he was as unchanged over the two decades that had passed since Alarink's father killed him as one would expect him to be. The only difference was that an orange gem, like the one on his forehead, now covered where he had been stabbed in the chest.

"Ugh, are you one of those pedantic people?" Alarink asked sarcastically as he moved to sit on the back of one of the benches laid out in the middle of the floor, crossing one leg over the other as he put on a condescending voice. "'Uh, it's not Ganon when you're referring to the King of the Gerudos, it's actually Ganon _dorf_.'" He affected a female condescending voice. "'Yeah, but he's not the King of the Gerudos, he's actually the _Chief_.'" He returned his voice to its normal sarcastic tone. "Seriously, just shut up, you're both dorfs."

"It is _my_ name!" Ganondorf shouted at him as he stood in the middle of the room. He had no weapon in hand, looking ever so slightly awkward, as any man of his appearance does when he's not holding a weapon or beating someone over the head with one.

"You have a point there, Dorfy." Alarink said with exaggerated casualness before pointing at the others. "What have you done to them?"

"I have manipulated them to test their courage in battle. They are each being challenged in a different way, it should not kill them but-" he suddenly stopped short in his explanation, turning to look down at the lounging Twili Prince and away from the others. "-did you call me _Dorfy_?!"

"Yeah, figured I'd try it," He pointed at the group, or specifically Zoelda, as he confirmed, "So, she- _they_ can't die in this mind-space/courage-test thing you've put them in and I don't need to bother with one because I already have courage thanks to my Triforce?"

"And the fact that you have a serious death wish that I would rather not exploit."

"Honestly, Dorfy dear, my death wish and the Triforce of Courage have always been interlinked."

"Don't call me that," Ganondorf asked, looking at him in anger and interest. "Why are you giving in before it has begun? I thought you would put up more of a fight, your parents certainly did."

A muscle twitched in Alarink's cheek at the mention of his parents, he could hardly be thinking about them now. "Yeah, well, I'm no hero reincarnate and I'm not as blasé as my mother is. The best I can do is come to terms with the fact that the Triforce of Courage was lodged into my body after my father died rather than being bestowed onto my spirit."

"And if someone wants to assemble the Triforce- "

"-They'd have to rip this piece free of my body. Which will subsequently kill me." Alarink spoke plainly but quickly, trying to move on from this line of discussion as he gently touched his scar. He might have come to terms with the fact that he was going to die, but he didn't have to like or discuss it with the man who would kill him. "Anyway, nothing we can do about that, so let's move on shall we. Have any tea?"

Ganondorf just stared at him, clearly not used to an opponent who would casually backchat him despite the fact that he was going to die. "How can you be so calm about this?"

"Eh," Alarink waved a hand as he stared over at Zoelda, noting how her hand was now bleeding ever so slightly with internal worry. "I've had, like, eight years to come to terms with it. And it's not like my death will accomplish nothing – if you win, I'll be known as the man who gave his Triforce shard to allow the eternal King to rule over Hyrule's savage wasteland; if they win, I'll be known as the bastard who gave his Triforce to take down Demise's human form once and for all. … Actually, scratch that; I'll be forgotten by both histories, or at best remembered only as the Bastard Prince."

"And do you side with me or them?" Asked Ganondorf intently, a frown on his brow as he tried to understand the son of the man who had murdered him.

"I'm a bi-sexual dual citizen of Hyrule and Twilight," he smiled his grin at the enemy, flashing his Twili skin as he did. "I'm not good with the whole 'choosing' thing."

* * *

As Zoelda pulled herself onto the beam, noticing a rather large and bleeding scratch from the wood on her hand as she did, she was surprised by how much fitter she'd gotten in the week at Hyrule. Obviously the horse-riding played a large part in that – one couldn't spend that long riding a horse fast without getting a little fitter – but the enforced fighting for her life had helped too.

However she got her newfound agility and strength didn't really matter that much when she was sat on a ceiling beam looking down at Ganon's boar, though. There was only so far physical strength was going to get you against a creature like that – a certain amount of cunning had to be involved too.

As she sat, shaking ever so slightly with nerves and adrenaline, she couldn't help but think about how she could have been back in her room right now. She could be sat on her bed, her new Switch in her lap and Hyrule in her palms. Instead, she was _in_ Hyrule, in the Castle, fighting a variation of Beast Ganon.

If anyone had told her she would be doing this two weeks ago, she would… Well actually, she wouldn't have laughed. Screamed, perhaps, but not in fear in _excitement_ that she'd get to see Hyrule, that she'd get to play a part in its history. What old Zelda didn't know that the new Zoelda did was that fighting monsters in real life, taking down evil? Not all it's made out to be.

And in the pursuit of stopping evil, it was very easy to lose someone you cared about.

As the boar snorted angrily below her, unable to find a way to reach her up in the rafters, Zoelda thought about her mother. The woman who had had her life taken away from her due to the Pestilence born from Ganon; a woman who had known the truth about Hyrule for about half her life and had sworn to protect her daughter from it all the same; her Hero out of Hyrule.

Her mother had taught her how to fight alongside her 'aunt' because they both knew she'd need it someday – they had both known she would be the Lost Twin to rid Hyrule of a physical Demise. Zelda Sr. hadn't been the most extraordinary of women, she hadn't saved any worlds and she lived her life only for her family; but her daughter would be damned if she thought she wasn't her Hero.

As Zoelda stood up, balancing carefully on the beam, she thought about Alarink, about how he could be dead right now and she couldn't know.

She thought about how he lived his life like a lunatic, not because he didn't care what other people thought, but because he knew it had an expiration date. He had moved _realms_ as a 10-year-old because he wanted to see Hyrule, the place his father had lived; he had let bullying, assaults, insults occur almost every day of his life, and yet hadn't once considered going back home or curling into a ball in the treehouse. Not once had he let life get the better of him, no matter how hard it tried.

Alarink faced the world with a forced grin and a debaucherous attitude, never letting anything get to him because he knew he wouldn't be around long enough for any of it to matter.

Until two days go.

 _She_ had gotten to him. _She_ had made him drop his guard, given him the chance to be truly vulnerable and allow himself to love something. _She_ was the reason he had given into his fate, the reason he was going to die.

And every goddamned time she looked into his eyes since the desert, she had seen him give up more and more, to the point where – not thirty minutes ago – when he had told her he loved her one last time, she could see it so plainly, that look in his glazed watery eyes.

A look that said, 'I will die for you time and time again, if that's what it takes for you to live.'

She'd seen it in her parent's eyes, occasionally in Impax's and now she saw it in Alarink's.

And she sure as hell wasn't going to let that look go to waste.

The thing both British Zelda and Hyrule Zoelda had in common was their determination to save a world they thought was fictional, to make the people they loved proud and to not give them a reason to save them – because they could save themselves.

So, resolved and courageous once again, Zoelda pulled her elaborate princess-style hair out of its metal band and threw the band onto the floor, causing a clatter that alerted the boar. The creature watched as the brunette removed the scraps of fabric from around her shins and threw the shin protectors down – aiming and hitting – into its eyes. There was a blood curdling howl from the beast as its eyes were scratched by the metal.

Quickly, Zoelda coiled her heavy hair up into a bun and tied it in place with one of the scraps of fabric, momentarily wondering why she hadn't done that before. Then she turned her attention to her dress, savagely ripping the skirt off under the pathetic thigh armour attached to the belt, leaving her legs more mobile in just a pair of leggings that ended just below the knee, her sword sheathes banging against her thigh plates when she moved.

The flouncy sleeves at top of the dress were pulled off next, leaving nothing to hold her dress to her body but her cleavage and a rather loose corset. The gauntlets stayed on to protect her lower arms, but now both her previously hit upper arm and lower leg were ready to be struck again.

Though, as she pulled her sword out of their sheaths and settled her bow and quiver more comfortably, she wasn't particularly worried about getting hit now.

This was a case of her doing what everyone she'd loved had done for her her entire life; putting on a smile and being prepared to die for them.

She leaped from the beam with a war cry, her swords held high as she aimed once again for the creature's eyes.

Zoelda didn't notice she was thinking of Alarink as someone she loved until much later.

* * *

Fearing to do his Princess any serious damage, all Link could do was attack on the defensive, parrying all her strikes as she continued to come at him with the intent to kill – never making any noises as she did, her eyes wild though troubled.

As he met her blood-red eyes in the midst of another successful parry, he saw what lay beneath the wildness, the lust for blood. He saw the pain of the real Princess, the one forced to do Ganon's bidding and attacking only under his control.

As she pulled away and lunged once again, he saw the girl who had saved his life:

" _Who are you?" A prettily dressed blonde girl about his age had asked him some dozen or so years ago. Her hair was braided intricately, and she wore a tiara and puffy pink dress, but carried around a teddy bear by the arm, so her status was lost on him, even with her parents standing and greeting people royally into their Castle a few feet away._

" _I'm called Alarink, Miss," the little blonde waif had replied. His hair was matted and scraggly, his simple brown tunic and trousers scuffed, torn and evidently too small. He probably smelt rather bad too, seeing as he'd never had a bath in his entire life. "What are you called?"_

" _I'm Princess Zelda." She had said regally, lifting her chin, yet somehow still not looking down at him._

" _Oh!" The boy Alarink exclaimed, moving to bow to the Princess – an awkward and stuffy bow for a homeless orphan._

" _Oh, don't do that!" The Princess exclaimed, forcing him back up despite the fact that it made her hands grubby. She simply cleaned them on the front of her pretty dress before crossing them huffily over her chest, still holding her bear by the paw. "I just want to be normal, just for a day."_

" _You don't like that, your High-nuss." Alarink said sincerely, thinking of how much he'd give to be able to go into the Castle banquet and have a hot meal, the first of his life._

" _I don't like what?" She asked confused before realising that was his way of saying she wouldn't like being normal for a day. "Oh, I_ wouldn't _like it. Well, we can't know that for sure, can we?"_

" _Come with me." The boy said, extending a grubby hand to her._

It was the first time the boy who would become Link ever told the Princess to run away with him, he'd asked her many times since – even just a few nights ago when the other two were in Twilight. He'd suggested they run one last time before their fate was sealed to saving Hyrule, but she'd said no, she couldn't leave her kingdom behind.

She'd said that every time he'd suggested they run away; every time but the first.

Then, she'd taken his grubby little hand in her own clean one and they ran, dropping that teddy behind Goddess knew where. He'd barely taken her anywhere when a search party was called together and she was taken back – never having seen what a normal night for someone like him was.

The next day, while he was running away from some of the older boys who were always doing unspeakable things to him – things that could make a man mute – he ran across the teddy, dirty and mud splattered, but undeniably the Princess'.

He'd grabbed the teddy and ran straight to the Castle, asking the guards to let him in so that he could give it back to her. Obviously, they said no, they couldn't let a dirty orphan into the Castle. But then the Queen was there, coming back to the Castle after seeing a friend. She smiled down on him and took his hand, taking him in the Castle to see her daughter.

Less than an hour later, after a lot of screaming and demanding on the Princess' part, the young blonde waif known as Alarink was elected to be her own personal knight, one who would train with her to begin with before going on to train with the other knights.

In the dozen or so years that followed, Alarink had watched Zelda lose her mother, had watched her inherit the throne while her father served as regent, had watched her issue an ultimatum on the man who he had exchanged names with – had watched that man ignore it.

Link had seen his Princess go through so much and still saw her struggle every day, dealing with the loss of her father and with Alarink being an utter douche. Over the past dozen years, he had let himself fall in love with her, but only on his death bed had her father given him permission to.

And just a few days before, he had told the Princess – who was in the midst of a mental breakdown over not being able to rule, of having to fight Ganon, of her fear of losing her mind to him – that he loved her.

Sure, while someone's having a breakdown, it's perhaps not the best time to confess undying love for them, almost certainly not the right time to propose. Of course, Link was born onto the streets, his timing was awful and his mannerism hadn't entirely been lost to royal teachings.

So, as he parried yet another attack from a woman who was concealing an engagement ring in her bodice, Link came to a realisation.

He sure as hell held no Triforce, he had not the Courage of a hero, nor the Wisdom of a royal or the Power of a revolutionary; but he knew the Princess' heart.

And he was sure of how to get to it.

So he drew on all his sparing sessions with her when they were just kids, beginning to fight back against her with the tricks she'd taught him in those.

Link knew his Princess was still there behind those red eyes, he could see the flicker of her remembering all those sessions as he drew on them, playing and parrying but never touching her with his sword.

"Come with me, Princess." He said as he parried again, hoping she might just take him up on the offer.

Just one more time.

* * *

Alarink sat quietly on the back of one of the benches, one leg crossed over the other, his arms crossed nonchalantly as he watched his companions, waiting for them to return from their courage journey.

He continued to see bruises to appear on 'Link' at regular intervals, noticing that none seemed to be appearing on the Princess. Either she was attacking him and he wasn't attacking back or she was in danger and he was protecting her, he deduced.

Figuring out what the fuck was going on with Zoelda was a lot harder.

Out of nowhere, her shin guards had disappeared – between one blink and the other it seemed because he'd been watching her the entire time and hadn't seen when or where they'd gone. And her hair was now arranged into some sort of bun on top of her head that might have been fashionable in her world where they wore bright red boots, but it certainly wasn't in Hyrule. Then her skirt was torn apart and her sleeves removed, leaving her in just the bodice, belt, gauntlets and leggings.

Normally, Alarink wouldn't object to someone ripping their clothes off in front of him, but there was something wrong about seeing it happen between one blink and the next – especially with someone he loved.

He was using that word more and more over the last few days.

 _Love._

Just half a week ago, he couldn't even think of thinking of someone that way, but in the transition between day and night it had all changed. Now he couldn't imagine _not_ thinking of her like that. He couldn't imagine a world where her safety wasn't his foremost thought.

And seeing her standing there, him powerless to help, was killing him more than removing the Triforce could.

It was a strange thing, unrequited love. On the one hand, you just want to see the other person happy, no matter where they are, who they're with; on the other it kills you every single day that you're without them, having to put on a smile and a brave face because you can't let them think you're hurting.

Just saying that he was going to see Ursila for one last bang last night had felt more wrong than anything he had ever said, and as he got changed into his armour in the treehouse, he couldn't help but look at the rooms with her there in his mind's eye.

He saw her asleep on the floor because she was too awkward to sleep on the bed, he saw her telling her mother's story at the table over fish stew. He went outside and saw her singing under a tree, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen at that point in his life.

And then he actually saw her, glowing radiantly as she left Faron Spring all blessed and ready to fight Ganondorf, a blanket around her shoulders to hide that stupid Triforce vest of hers.

It wasn't the being rejected that hurt, it was the need to stop talking to her after rejection, because that's what society dictates.

He would have given anything to just be able to chat it through with her, but everytime he tried, tears filled his eyes as he realised how pointless it would be.

In just an hour or so, he'd be dead, and nothing would matter anymore anyway.

Either, she'd soon be in her world again and pretending this had never happened, or she'd be with him in the land of the dead and they could make peace there. But right now, she was more out of his reach than she would be in either of the other scenarios – at least he could haunt her back in her world if he really wanted to.

"Blargh." He groaned suddenly, shaking his head. He couldn't be thinking about this kind of stuff right now, he couldn't let the silence make him melancholy.

He couldn't give in to lover's despair.

So, instead – perhaps not the best alternative, but an alternative all the same – he turned to Ganondorf, who was stood watching his courage tests with a smile, seeing things Alarink couldn't, and asked him a question.

"Yo, Dorfy," he approached the subject eloquently, knowing just how to push evil incarnate's buttons. "What happened to the Gerudos?"

"Please, Link, stop calling me that," He replied with chagrin, though Alarink being called his actual name was always an achievement. "As for the Gerudo race, I cannot say for sure."

"Wow, pretty shitty chief you were then."

"I was not aiming to be a good chief to the Gerudos, I was in it to rule evil. Not that ruling the Gerudo didn't have its perks."

"Oh ho," Alarink chuckled, rubbing his hands together. "Now we're talking. Women throwing themselves at your feet, were they?"

"Yes." Ganondorf made a disgusted look as he remembered. "It became quite tiresome after a while."

"'O Great Ganondorf, give me your seed!'" Alarink impersonated a Gerudo woman, wringing his hands together and batting his eyelashes at Ganondorf as he did.

"That is disgusting, Link."

"Well, I mean, yeah," he returned to his own sarcastic voice then. "Not far from the truth though. I've been with enough people and Zoras in my time to know how deprived they can act around royalty."

"I thought that you had left your debauchery behind," the giant said as he walked over to Zoelda, reaching out a hand to cup her cheek.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!" Alarink shouted at him, springing to his feet and drawing the Master Sword as an almost kneejerk response.

"Pathetic," he chucked, his hand coming into contact with the invisible barrier, just shy of Zoelda's face. "You know you are not the one who will use that Sword against me."

Alarink was panting angrily as he sheathed the Sword again, glaring up at the taller red head. "I might not be, but if you try to touch her again, I'll find a way _to_ be."

Again, Ganondorf chuckled, crossing his arms and looking down at Alarink. "Strange to see so famous a philanderer so protective of one woman who he's not even slept with."

"Yes, well," Alarink snapped quickly, crossing his own arms again as he sat back on the bench back, keeping an eye on Zoelda as he did. "We all need to change some time, don't want to stagnate, 'snot healthy."

"That may be the case, but you still fall back into old patterns when the occasion allows."

"What, you mean asking about Gerudos? That's just professional curiosity." Feeling assured enough that he could talk about previous sexual encounters without wondering about what Zoelda would think, he got more comfortable on the bench and began. "You see, a few years back now, I came across a lovely tall, dark skinned woman who said she was a survivor of the Gerudo race. Now, since the Gerudos are a rare thing nowadays, she was very eager to copulate. She said it was to repopulate her race, but I saw the look in her eye. Dirty, _dirty_ girl she was. Really into-"

"Link," Ganondorf interrupted in an injured and angry tone. "Could you just shut the fuck up?"

* * *

 _AN:_

 _Here we are, the start of the battle._

 _Before I started writing this chapter, I had a really hard time figuring out what I was going to do with it. I knew what I wanted to happen before and I knew what I wanted to happen after, I just couldn't figure out what was going to happen in between. Then I started writing it and ended up with this, which I absolutely love. It's a real false victory kind of situation (particularly for Zoelda), one last win before death._

 _And it was an opportunity to show the development of all the characters. It gave Zoelda an opportunity to be badass on her own; it's allowed Alarink to be his somewhat normal self with Ganondorf (who's really picky about his voice for no other reason than I wanted to) just one last time; it's an opportunity to finally expand on 'Link' and Princess Zelda as characters._

 _When I first started writing this, Link and Zelda were here for no reason other than necessity. Then I got into it, really created a backstory for 'Link' that I realised would be perfect for here. I actually liked writing their backstory so much that I'm considering writing a series of chapters of their relationship over the years just because._

 _But anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the end of these mini battles in the next one. I'll let you guess what happens when they come back to reality in the room with Alarink and Ganondorf, but I'd imagine you have an idea._

 _So, have a nice week!_

 _~WWQ_

 _PS. Not sure if anyone's interested, but if you are, I listen to gaming music when I write. While writing these last fiveish chapters, I listened to the "Top 200 Nintendo songs of all time" but Henriko Magnifico on Youtube, check it out if you want an idea of the kind of music I listened to while writing this. It's pretty good._


	19. 18 Ganondorf

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _18\. Ganondorf_

Somehow, in some way, Ganon was still holding control of her.

They were both bruised now, Link more so due to him wanting not to injure his Princess, though he had gotten a few decent hits on her as they continued to spar. As he remembered her no mercy policy on him when they were children and decided to try it against her now.

But somehow, Goddesses be damned, she was still under evil's control.

And she was still silent whenever he hit her, not grunts or moans in pain when he created a bruise.

They were both getting exhausted now though, sweat matting their blonde hair and their swings and parries becoming ever more feeble as their arms began to tire.

As Link deflected another strike by clashing his sword with hers and pushing it down, he thought back to the night they'd first arrived in the desert. The night that Zoelda had been under Ganon's control and tried to kill Alarink. He thought about how she had broken free – screaming and running in the opposite direction.

And then he realised. He understood why she wasn't making any noise of pain or war as they continued to fight:

If she screamed, if she made any noise in pain, it would reawaken her mind and Ganon would lose control.

With that in mind, Link shook his head and turned away in anger at what he would have to do. Though, try as he might, he couldn't see any other way.

So he jumped out of the way of a strike and landed on the back of one of the benches, running to its end as the Princess stood and stared, clearly confused but her lips in a snarl and her sword still raised.

Silently, he apologised to her before running down the length of the bench and launching himself at her, screaming manically with the intent to draw blood. All the girl could do was widen her eyes and stare in fear as she hastily parried many attacks, leaving obvious gaps in her defence which he exploited with little nicks and cuts wherever he could. Still, there were no screams.

Then she left the ungauntleted inside of her arm exposed for the briefest of moments.

It was long enough.

Link saw it, silently punished himself for what he was about to do despite it being for the greater good and struck with whip like speed.

He opened a shallow cut that ran her entire right lower arm, missing any major veins, causing blood to start to spill over after only a few moments.

In stinging pain and shock, Zelda dropped her weapon and let out a scream, her fingers moving to unbuckle her gauntlet. She stopped when she screamed, her eyes flashing a momentary surprised blue before going back to angry red. Once red again, the Princess reached down for her sword, but Link was there, kicking it far out of her reach halfway across the room.

In the silence that followed as the two blondes stared each other down, Link mentally begged her, prayed that she'd come back instead of attacking again.

"Zelda. Come with me." He said again, hoping she would, just once more.

Instead, she headbutted him, causing him to stagger backwards with an oath as she ran over to where her sword was.

She wasn't fast enough.

Soon Link was there, whipping his sword with precision and speed against the back of her shoulders to momentarily paralyse her arms. There was a scream of shock as she looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes flashing blue for a moment, a blue that showed fear and pleading.

Looking down at the cut on her arm, Link knew just what he had to do – he didn't like it, but he knew he had to do it all the same.

Sheathing his sword, Link gently cradled her bleeding arm, looking up at her lovingly as he did – causing intense confusion to Ganondorf as he watched back in the real world next to the incessantly chatting Alarink.

Then he dug his right hand into the cut, digging his nails in in a clawlike fashion while gripping her arm like a vice.

Zelda screamed like an animal, howling and struggling against his hold, watching as her skin turned pinker, her veins lowered and her eyes flashed from red to blue and back again.

Suddenly, he ripped her gauntlet off, catching the cut with the buckle as he did, causing even more pain as she continued to scream. His fingers were bloody, his grip on her arm tight enough to slow the blood flow and he was sweating profusely; but he didn't let go.

"Zelda. Come back to me." Pleaded he, using his free and bloody hand to turn her face to him, covering her chin with her blood. Her eyes were watering, flashing red and blue in quick succession as she tried to break free of Ganondorf. "Come to me."

She whimpered in response, tears beginning to fill her ever changing eyes.

"We-we can run away," Link said quickly, watching her eyes change intensely and never letting go of her arm. "Far, far away. We, we can ask Impax to show us the way to another time, another place, a Hyrule that doesn't need us and that isn't in danger. We could live there as commoners, tending a farm and earning our keep. No one would have to know I'm an orphan or you're a Princess, we can simply live our lives in peace."

One of her eyes was fully blue again now, the other still flashing and she was still snarling in anger despite the tears falling down her face and the snot coming from her nose as she cried in pain and anger. Link let go of her face and dipped his hand down the front of her bodice, causing her to flush and turn away from him in embarrassment, struggling against his grip on her bleeding arm.

"Zelda, look at me, look at me." Link demanded, forcing her to turn back, her face still red as she saw him kneeling on the floor, a hand still gripping her arm and the other presenting her with the ring he'd fished out from her bodice. He smiled at her, watching as the red drained out of her other eye with the tears. "I fuckin' love you, my Princess."

Then she collapsed, right into his arms as the strings of the puppeteer were cut; a crying, bleeding, hot blonde mess.

"Zelda?" Link asked gently, pushing her back from him slightly only to feel her hold on even tighter. "Zelda? You okay?"

"… S… Stop asking for me to run away with you…" She muttered between tears, not letting go of him as the world began to glow in a bright light.

"I'm not making any promises, Love."

* * *

New found agility, strength and adrenaline could only get a person so far.

That's what Zoelda realised as she found herself standing with one foot on either tusk of the giant boar, her swords sticking into both of its eyes.

She was pretty sure the creature was blind now as a white and red fluid began to flow out of its eye sockets. That hardly changed the fact that she couldn't figure out how to remove her swords and dismount effectively without landing in its fanged and agape mouth.

So, thinking of what Alarink would do in this situation – some fancy dismounting backflip with a grin and series of swears most likely – she decided to pull one sword free and balance on one tusk instead of spreading herself between both.

As soon as she pulled the right sword free, the fluid began to run onto her hand, down the creature's face to drip steadily on the floor. Quite rightly, Zoelda gagged and brought the back of her free hand to her mouth, forgetting that it was holding a sword that was also covered and dripping the fluid.

Immediately taking her hand away again, she wriggled the other sword free and ran along the creature's curved tusk before jumping off it and hiding behind a column, wiping her swords on her leggings as she ran gagging.

Knowing the boar was now blind, the only way it could find her was by listening to her or by sniffing her out. She immediately stopped panting when she realised that, simply listening to the boar cry out in pain instead.

Out of her element, shattered and half covered in the fluid from the boar's eyes, Zoelda lent against the column gently, trying not to make any noise.

This was insanity, malarkey at its best. No one, not a single person back home, would ever believe this happened. And there were no references back home that she could draw on for how to effectively kill a boar, at least not one of this size. She doubted simply planting her feet and waiting for it to run into her outstretched swords would work here.

Sighing, she noticed just how quiet the room now was; the boar had stopped squealing, instead listening for her.

Turning to look behind the column, she realised how much of a mistake she had made in sighing, her eyes growing wide as she saw the creature readying itself to run at the column and her behind it.

"Shiiittt!" Zoelda shouted as she jumped out of its way and the column came crashing down, rubble just narrowly missing her feet as she dove away.

(Back in the real world, Alarink had stopped his sexual banter as he saw a column randomly crash into nothing, Ganondorf as shocked as he was as they both exclaimed: "What the fuck!")

Desperately trying not to make much noise as she panted and tried to make her breathing steady, Zoelda shakily rose to her feet. Adrenaline and instinct were taking over as she realised that there would be no flight from this instance, only fight.

So, still shaking, she planted her feet wide, her back to a solid wall and one sword gripped in both hands, the other sheathed away. Wiping the sweat out of her bangs, she readied herself to do what was beyond the most stupid thing she had ever done, and the only thing she could think would work in this situation:

She whistled to the beast, stamped her feet on the ground and just generally made a lot of noise. It was facing, unseeing, her direction but a few seconds later, sniffing the air as it decided if she was lying or not.

With a terrifying beastly grin, the boar pawed the ground once, showing just how little space there was between its stomach and the ground, perhaps only a foot or two in height.

Zoelda readied herself as it charged, sliding down onto her knees at the last possible instance as it's tusks hit the wall. With enough speed, and thanks to the fluid coating the floor and her leggings, she was able to launch herself the entire way under its stomach and out the other side, slicing a neat seam through the stomach as she slid.

Her back ached, her knees were skinned and bleeding and her neck clicked as she sat up, but she'd somehow managed to pull it off.

A seamless slide under the boar to slice its body open.

She was exhausted, covered in sweat and boar eye fluid, it's blood splattered in her hair, but of course she was laughing. A deep throaty chuckle as she stood shakily, putting her other sword away despite it not being clean.

"Take that you fucking beast!" She turned to it, pointing dramatically and grinning, unaware of the light dimming and the room getting ever smaller around her. "Thought you could beat me, did you, bitch! Well, you can't because you're-"

* * *

"-dead!" Said she dramatically, still pointing forward. Only now she wasn't pointing at the boar:

She was pointing at Alarink, who was looking at her with a mix of surprise, shock; sadness and joy.

"Not yet, dear," he said sarcastically looking down at his wrist as though to check an imaginary watch. "Soon though."

"Alarink!" Zoelda breathed a sigh of relief as she saw him, sat alive and nonchalantly on the back of a bench. She didn't even see Ganondorf stood only a few feet from her, just out of eye-line, grinning evilly. "Thank Gods you're still alive! I thought-"

As she tried to walk towards him she hit a barrier, an invisible box that was holding her in place on all sides – nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

"Alarink," Zoelda said, her voice teetering on the verge of panic, her heart racing as she saw Ganondorf out the corner of her eye for the first time. A towering presence of pure malice that was staring down at her like she was a trophy for him to steal. "What's going on, what is this?"

Glancing to her left, she saw the Princess and Link snap back to reality, crouching on the floor, covered in blood and holding one another – nonetheless also confined by the same sort of forcefield as she was. There was a large cut down the Princess' right arm and Link's fingers were coated in blood.

"What did you do to the two of them?" She breathed in the direction of Ganondorf, her eyes wide and terrified, never focusing on one thing for more than a few moments. Looking in the direction of the lounging Alarink was strictly out of discussion since he looked so incredibly depressed, a small smile on his lips as he watched, knowing his breaths were now limited.

" _I_ did nothing, Lost Princess," Ganondorf said, walking up to her cage and causing her to flinch back in fear. Laughing he put a hand on the front of the box, showing that he couldn't reach her any more than she could reach him. "They did it to themselves."

"Why?" Zoelda put a shaking hand to her mouth, her other resting on one of the swords.

"I put my spirit in the Princess to test our non-Triforced man's courage."

"And with me… You created that boar, that _beast_ to test my courage?"

"Oh, is that was it was?" Alarink asked, looking Zoelda up and down, noting the white fluid and missing clothes. "I kinda thought you were just off having your first time without me."

"Okay, seriously," Zoelda glared at him, her voice shaking with her hands as she desperately tried to steady them. "Don't go making jokes right now. Please, I can't bear to see you acting so flippant with your life on the line."

"My life isn't on a line, I know exactly where it is and when it'll leave."

"Would you _please_ -" Zoelda struck then, pushing her sword against the barrier in the general direction of the gem covering the hole in Ganondorf's chest.

She didn't know why she thought it would work. Of course the sword wouldn't be able to break this barrier. All it did instead was clatter against the barrier and make her wrist hurt as she tried to force it past.

Finally, it fell to the floor, having done no more damage to Ganondorf than it had to the invisible wall.

"Did you really think I wouldn't have accounted for you doing that?" Ganondorf asked with a disappointed expression.

"No, thought it was worth a shot, though." Zoelda shrugged, picking her sword back up and putting it away. All her bravado, all her pointless attempt, it was all to try and distract herself from what was about to happen. But as she looked over at where the Princess and Link were, now both standing up, she realised it was pointless.

So she steeled herself, breathed deeply and begged herself not to cry. Trying to stop her shaking hands and quavering voice from breaking.

Alarink wouldn't die.

"I thought better of you, Heroine." Ganondorf said as he walked over to where Alarink was lounging, motioning for him to stand. "I thought you'd know that those pathetic little swords of yours are not what will kill me."

"Don't stand up." Zoelda said sharply, her attention fully on Alarink, her eyes wide with fear while he was sighing in resignation. "Alarink, don't you dare stand up!"

He flashed her a grin as he stood, brushing himself down and drawing the Master Sword.

"Little parting gift, Zo," He said sadly as he kicked it towards her, watching as it rebounded off the barrier wall and came to a spinning stop a few feet from her. "Use it well."

"Alarink, no." Zoelda put her hands to the barrier as she watched him click his neck and smile that stupid grin of his in the face of death. "Link, _please!_ Please don't do this!"

She could beg herself not to cry all she wanted, it didn't stop the catch in her throat, her breathing becoming fast and ragged.

Begging couldn't stop this.

"Oh, he's not doing anything," Ganondorf almost purred in his deep voice as he raised his marked right hand in front of Alarink's chest. "This is all the Goddess' doing. Making this Triforce and bestowing it onto a few humans each time? Who do we have to blame for that but Hylia herself?"

Then Zoelda knew. She knew how Alarink was going to die. She knew what was going to happen in this room now.

But knowing didn't make it any easier.

"Please, p-please don't." Zoelda half choked as her right hand flared up with Ganondorf's. A quick glance to her left showed the Princess' hand was glowing as well. "Stop this, _please!_ Why?! _Why_ are you doing this?!"

"I thought you would know by now," Ganondorf said as a golden glow appeared on the diagonal of Alarink's chest, piercing through his armour. Alarink was breathing heavily, raggedly, one hand at his throat while the other was behind his back.

That damned grin still on his lips despite the fact that his breathing was laboured and he was drenched in sweat, the Triforce tearing at his insides.

"I want to rule the world." Ganondorf said as the Triforce of Power began to grow out of the back of his hand. "I want Hylia to bow to me."

Half the Triforce of Wisdom flew out of the Zeldas' hands then, leaving Zoelda feeling strangely empty as it travelled away from her over to its partner to join up with it and become whole Wisdom again.

Then the fully formed Triforce of Wisdom slotted itself in place on the lower left of the Triforce of Power, hovering just out of reach behind Ganondorf at his eye level.

"Oh Goddesses, please." Zoelda choked, her eyes so watery she almost couldn't see what was going on before her. "Please, _please_ don't do this. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO EMBED IT IN HIM TO BEGIN WITH?!"

Zoelda screamed at the world around her as Alarink smiled one last sad smile at her, a smile of sheer pain as the Triforce cut at his insides, bestowed into his body by force instead of onto his Spirit by choice all those years before.

His destiny had been set as soon as his father died.

Then it was he who screamed as the Triforce of Courage neatly pulled itself free from him, right across his scar on his chest.

Coughing up blood almost immediately, Alarink made one last lunge as the Triforce left his body – completely free of blood as it floated over to join the other two pieces – and stabbed his short sword into Ganondorf's stomach as he fell onto him.

There was blood everywhere, though some of it now belonged to the shocked Ganondorf.

Princess Zelda was screaming.

Alarink smiled up at him, his eyes clouded, his face bloodied, his chest dripping. All his strength was gone, and soon the shock of the blood loss would kick in; then it would be only a matter of minutes until he died, in utterly excruciating pain.

Link had broken his silence oath and was swearing, shouldering the invisible box where the Triforce had pierced it.

Ganondorf took the short sword out of his stomach in contempt and stabbed it into Alarink's chest.

There was a cough and another eruption of blood from his lips as his heart was pierced. His minutes even more limited now.

The box shattered and Link began to run.

Then everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Link seemed not to get anywhere as he pulled his sword free.

The Princess was still silently crying as she struggled to pull her bow and set the light arrow.

And Ganondorf, evil incarnate, did something merciful.

Grabbing Alarink by the head, he picked up the dying, disoriented man and flung him behind him, in Zoelda's general direction.

Sliding on the now bloodied floor, Alarink only came to as stop as his head hit a column, caving the skull in.

Killing him instantly.

Falling to her knees, her face in her hands, Zoelda didn't see anything merciful in the instant death Ganondorf provided.

All she saw was blood and water as her tears spilled over.

As she finally allowed herself to cry.

* * *

 _AN:_

 _First thing first, I want to apologise for any glaringly obvious errors in this chapter - I'm really under the weather as I'm doing my final edit, so I'm bound to have missed something._

 _Anyway, as I said last chapter, the courage test was a real false victory for Zoelda before the rug was swept out from under her and Alarink was killed. It was an opportunity to show how much she has grown over the course of her week in Hyrule._

 _And Alarink submitting to his death is also a way to show his character development - a week ago he never would have considered going down without a fight, now he just wants Zoelda to be safe. A bit ironic, I suppose, since that's also what she wants for him._

 _This chapter was the first time I've written something so graphically violent, so I don't know if it's technically good or not, but it was (probably a little weird considering I was writing my main characters death) a fair amount of fun. I should clarify, Alarink dying is not the fun part, the creating the image of his death and the violence of it was what was "fun", especially since I don't normally enjoy writing descriptive imagery. It was also the first time I've written a main character's death, so it perhaps isn't as impactful as it could be, though I do expand on it over the last two chapters._

 _Regardless, I'm going to stop this note here. I still have a lot more to say about this chapter, I'm sure, but I just can't put any thoughts into words today. So, I'll probably talk about this chapter again during the note of the next one (the penultimate chapter, if you will). The next chapter was also my second favourite chapter to write, behind 12._

 _So, have a nice week and everything, I hope you've "enjoyed" I quote because I'm not sure that's the word I'd use when describing this chapter, but anyway, I hope you liked it, hope to see you next one._

 _~WWQ_

 _PS. I've had issues accessing my account this afternoon and it's only through a little bit of server trickery that I've actually been able to get back on at all, so if this does go up today, that's a small miracle, if it doesn't, I'm really sorry about that and I'll get it up as soon as possible._


	20. 19 Zelda

_The penultimate chapter..._

* * *

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _19\. Zelda_

It had been nothing a few days ago; a fantasy world of no importance to her own. A world she could escape to when her life was too hard, too heavy a burden; a purely fictitious thing she believed not to be real.

Now she was screaming into her bloodied, fluid covered hands; a hand that had held half the spirit of the Triforce of Wisdom. Now she was crying as a pool of blood crept ever closer to her broken invisible box; blood that belonged to someone she had considered a close friend.

Now she was shivering as reality set in.

This was reality, a reality more real than that she had lived in back home.

This was what her life had been building towards. All her studying, all her exams, all her sleepless nights that she had cried over before saying 'fuck it' and playing her Legends; they all meant nothing.

Everytime she had sat down with her parents as a child, her dad as a teenager, and booted up a console to play a new Legend; they mattered.

They had taught her how to fight evil, where his weak spot was and how to hit it. They had taught her Courage, a small girl overcoming her fear of Stalfos and Blizzeta to take them down and cure their evil – in her mind at least. They had given her Wisdom, a first-hand knowledge in the Legends to rival that of the Legends' royal family. They had given her the Power to learn how to fight effectively, for self-defence, her mother had always told her: how right she was, as she thought back on the fights with the monsters she'd encountered so far.

But none of it, none of the Legends or the lessons they taught her, could prepare her for this.

Nothing could prepare her for the complete and utter fear, the immediate and heart-wrenching loss that came when you saw someone you love murdered.

Nothing felt worse than not telling someone you loved them before you lost them.

* * *

" _Mum's going out for the week with Auntie Impax, Sweetheart. Could I get a kiss before I go?"_

" _Muum!" Zelda had moaned, not looking up from her DS screen. "You're talking over the cutscenes!"_

" _Zelda, sweetie, you've played this before," Zelda Sr. said in response, leaning down to hug her from behind as she looked over her shoulder at the screen. "You only finished it a few days ago, why are you starting it again?"_

" _I want to know how you know what's going to happen before it does!" Zelda exclaimed as she turned back to look at her mother. "Spirit Tracks has only been out for two weeks and you already knew exactly what was going to happen when! How do you do it?!"_

" _That's a secret, sweetheart," Zelda Sr. booped her nose gently. "Perhaps I'll show you, but only when you're older."_

" _No fair!" Zelda stropped, stamping her feet, looking a lot younger than ten in that instant._

" _I know, but life's like that." She mussed her daughter's hair and stood up, her arms held wide expectantly. "Now, can I kiss before I go?"_

 _Zelda humphed and hugged her mum, her DS still in her hand as she embraced her somewhat reluctantly. As she pulled back, her mother looked deep into her eyes, seeing the hero she would one day become, seeing that she would one day know more about the Legends than she ever could. Smiling gently down on her, the elder Zelda kissed the younger on the cheek._

" _Blegh!" The girl exclaimed, rubbing her cheek with the back of her hand. "Muuum!"_

 _And Zelda Sr. laughed and picked up her bag, turning away from her daughter and out of the house, no idea what would befall her when she came back from Hyrule in just a week._

 _Neither knew this would be the last time they saw one another._

" _Love you too, sweetheart!" Zelda Sr. called over her shoulder. "Take care!"_

* * *

" _Take care!"_

It echoed around her as she shivered again, hugging her skinned and bloodied knees to her chest.

Tears continued to roll silently down her face as she looked out into nothing, oblivious to the puddle of blood that was getting ever closer to her feet. Unseeingly watching the fight between the Princess, Link and Ganondorf as they swore at each other, shooting light arrows every which way to try to knock him down, or at least away from the hovering assembled Triforce.

Her mother had been stolen from her by that man, that evil incarnate. But, she had known her daughter loved her; she had known her daughter would mourn her for everyday of the rest of her life.

She had known the time would come for her daughter to avenge her, in the name of love.

What she didn't know, what she couldn't have known, was that her daughter would be incapacitated when the time came for her to be a hero.

While her mother had died in peace, knowing her daughter loved her; Alarink had died in excruciating pain, thinking Zoelda didn't care for him. Thinking she wasn't heartbroken when she'd had to break his.

She choked a rattling sob as she saw his face only an hour or so before, so sad and defeated, but willing to give everything up for her.

A face that knew death was only a handful of breaths away.

And she could have so easily made his death less painful by telling him there and then that she loved him.

Instead she'd told him to stop.

Instead she'd let him die without hope.

She buried her face in her hands again, tears streaming once again as she whimpered.

The juxtaposition between the one who had known she'd loved her despite being away for a week, despite not knowing she would be dead by the end of it and that of the one who _hadn't_ known she loved him despite being _with_ her for a week and _knowing_ he would be dead by the end of it was almost too much for Zoelda to bear.

They had both died because they knew she could save their world, their _real_ world.

And there she was, crying into her hands, just trying not to scream again.

Then the blood reached her boot.

Looking up from her hands, Zoelda saw the small stream of blood following one of the fissures in the floor that her foot was now blocking. Slowly, deliberately as she hiccupped and willed her eyes to stop watering, she followed the stream of blood back to its source. She looked at him.

A mangled mess of a man she had come to know, a caved in skull covered in a sticky red and black blood darker than the ginger hair it matted; a jet black right hand limp in the pool of blood by his head; his spotless armour and robe now dripping red and black; his legs splayed unnaturally behind him; his short sword bent in his chest equally unnaturally. And his beautiful silver circlet still at his brow, a trail of blood working its way down the slender frame before dripping off the gem – a ruby crying for its owner.

Seeing him face down in a pool of his own blood, still recognisable but mangled, Zoelda forced down a wail yet again.

For a man who had known he was going to die, he had been the most full of life person she had ever met.

Every step was one closer to his last, every one nightstand would bring a reminder of his fate to him as they asked what was the matter with his chest; every smile forced and every laugh a mockery. But dammit if he wasn't enjoying himself as he swore, fought, laughed and fucked his way through Hyrule.

And Zoelda couldn't let that be in vain.

She couldn't let either of them have died for nothing.

If this was going to go down as another Legend, she wanted it to be named after him:

'The Legend of Alarink Link: The Bastard Prince.'

And this time, it was Zelda's turn to be the hero.

" _Now, this is normally when I tell the monster who's boss using a series of swears."_

Zelda stood up and wiped her face, smearing tears everywhere against the blood and fluid that had dripped down onto it out of her hair.

"I'm coming for you, Motherfucker."

 _They both hid the tears in their eyes and put on fake smiles._

Putting on her best sardonic smile, Zelda put one foot forward, leaving a bloodied footstep behind her.

" _Keep an eye on him for me, would you?"_

She looked over at his body once more as she moved slowly forwards, not seeing him as a crumpled heap of black clothes or blood, but as she had the night they'd come back from Twilight.

 _What she remembered clearest about him in that moment was that final resolution to the question that had clearly plagued him all day._

Her question had been answered too; both Link and her mother had to die. They were what would give her the strength to see this through, to end Physical Ganondorf once and for all.

" _Mistress. Steel your broken heart and move wisely against the Evil, for this is all part of Hylia's plan."_

Her bloodied boot hit something then, something solid. Looking down, she saw the Master Sword at her feet, untouched by blood and shining in the late evening light flooding in through the windows.

" _I thought you'd know that those pathetic little swords of yours are not what will kill me."_

Bending down slowly, Zelda took the Master Sword hilt in both hands.

"Mistress." It flashed at her, beginning to glow in a pale, unearthly light.

" _I'm not the one to use the Sword in this battle, the spirit practically confirmed that when she called you Mistress instead of calling me Master."_

It was only then, as she took up the Sword and stared forwards, a determined and sardonic smile on her face as she looked at where Ganondorf was giving 'Link' a pounding as the Princess tried to get a hit in on him with the Bow of Light, the Triforce hovering all unaware a few feet away from them, closer to her than to them, that she knew what she had to do.

"Oh, I'm coming for you, fucker." Zelda grated between her teeth, starting a slow and deliberate walk, the Sword in her hand a she walked through the pool of blood at Alarink's feet, not looking down at him as she passed, not trusting herself to not start crying yet again.

Soon she was jogging, her feet making a pattering sound on the hard floor that caused the others to turn and watch her as she ran towards them, Sword outstretched, trail of bloody footprints behind her.

Then she jumped, her left hand high above her head as she reached up to about seven feet in the air.

"NOOOO!" Ganondorf screamed and came running towards her, knocking both 'Link' and the Princess out of the way as he did.

"Goddesses!" Zelda shouted as she gripped the gap between the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom, holding herself suspended in the air and onto the Golden Triangles that could apparently grant her wishes. "Separate Ganondorf from Demise! Let there nevermore be a human form of evil incarnate! Scratch that, get rid of Demise once and for all! And if You can't do that, then limit his resurrection to once every few millennia, let Your people be ready for him when he comes!

"Just," she sighed as Ganondorf stared at her, a few feet away as he realised he couldn't stop her any more. As she looked over at the battered and bruised 'hero' and Princess, and the dead form of her closest friend. "Just stop this insanity."

There was a huge golden flash, one that temporarily blinded everyone in the room as Zoelda fell from her place in the air and kicked Ganondorf down as she did, landing in a crouch with the glowing Master Sword still in hand.

The flash imploded and faded into nothing, leaving little trace that the Triforce had ever been there in the first place and little evidence that anything had changed.

But she saw it, on the back of her birthmarked hand, three golden triangles as clear as day. She felt the buzz of the Goddesses in her veins, a golden glow emitting from her gently as she stared at the form of Ganondorf standing back aways, looking down at his hand in shock.

His eyes flashed in anger and sorrow, his hand clenched and unclenched at his side while the other continued to grip his sword. As he looked up at her, she could see the fear and vulnerability in his gold Gerudo eyes.

There, before her, was Ganondorf, the Gerudo Chief.

Demise was gone, whether gone for good or for millennia, Zelda didn't know. But he was gone for now.

And the man that stood before her was only that, a man.

One who had killed many, who had destroyed lives, families.

Who had killed two people she loved.

She didn't hold back as he ran towards her, screaming that she had taken away all that he was, had destroyed all that he lived for as he attacked her foolishly, leaving obvious gaps in his defence that she exploited enormously with the Sword of Evil's Bane. Soon he was the one bleeding, the gems on his forehead and chest ripped off in frustration and revealing no trace of the spike that sealed Demise nor the stab that had killed Ganon twenty years ago.

And soon she was the one swearing at him with gritted teeth as she parried, dodged and flicked away his sword, using her own to stab at him, never fatally yet, but always damaging, always drawing blood.

" _You!_ You _fucker!_ " Zelda swore at him loud enough for him to hear, but not too loud to lessen the harshness of her words. "You utter _shithead!_ You, you have killed my mother! You killed so many innocents with that Pestilence of yours!"

"That wasn't me, that was-"

"Shut fuck, you twat," Zelda interrupted him before he could say it was Demise controlling him, before he could say he hadn't enjoyed the power that came with being evil's puppet. "It was you. You let it control you, you let power rule you. And you fucking enjoyed it, didn't you?"

Zelda was grinning like a maniac as she held the Master Sword at his throat, her hand gripping his wrist and forcing him to drop his own weapon.

"I, I-"

"You liked watching the life drain out of people, you got a kick from killing, asserting your dominance. Don't say you didn't, we all do. I certainly am right now."

"Zelda, I-"

"Oh, please don't beg for mercy." She cut him off again, her eyes flashing and the golden glow growing within her. "You don't think I've been giving you mercy, toying with you until we got to this point because I want you to savour the moment?"

"What?"

"Look at this face, Ganondorf." Zelda grinned at him, walking back from him a foot or so so he could get a better look, sure he was beaten enough not to try and attack her again. "Look at the face of your killer.

"I'm not blonde, nor am I obviously blue-eyed; I'm not native nor am I foreign; I'm tall and my ears are short, I'm pale and not even properly dressed.

"And I'm a woman."

Zelda rather negligently thrust the Sword into the cut that Link made into his stomach with his short sword as he died, angling the Sword up before she thrust again, hitting an organ that could have been the heart or a lung. Whatever it was, it was vital enough to cause him to spit up blood immediately.

Deliberately pulling the sword out roughly and slowly, wriggling it back and forth as she did, opening more wounds on his insides and causing him intense pain as blood continued to froth from his lips.

Finally, with cold hearted detachment, she let him fall twitching to the floor, watching as his blood pooled at her feet and the life drained out of him. He'd live for a few more minutes, but the shock would knock him out cold in just a few moments.

So, she bent down to his face and looked him in the eye, a sardonic grin on her own blood splattered face and her hair wild as the golden glow of the Goddesses left her.

"Remember that, Ganon. Remember that it was a woman who finally killed you, you fuck. A woman of Hylia's blood."

"Ga… Ganon… _Dorf_." The dying man corrected pedantically with his last few breaths as she stood up again.

"Whatever," she said as she plunged the Master Sword into his open wound, causing him to scream in pain and look up at her one last time before he fainted. "That, was for Link."

As he lost consciousness, a few moments left until the blood loss would draw his life away from him, Zelda walked away, wiping the blood from her face with the backs of her bloodier hands.

"Take that, you fucking monster. Think you can attack someone on my watch? Not likely, fucker." Zelda repeated the first words she'd ever heard Link say a week ago under her breath as she walked over to his body, slumping down next to the column his head had cracked against. Behind her, behind the body of Ganondorf, the other two were staring at her in horror and awe, surprised that one they assumed was incapacitated at Link's death could be so ruthless, so utterly detached from her own bloody violence.

"Why don't I go tell my friends what it's like to attack them while I'm around? Oh wait, I can't," Zelda gasped, tears filling her eyes again as she continued to paraphrase Link's words, looking down at his body, grateful she couldn't see the cut across his chest. "'Cause he's dead."

Then she was crying into her bloody hands again, next to the body of her friend and sat in a pool of his blood.

"Bitch…"

* * *

 _AN:_

 _Before I get into this, I just want to apologise for the mess that was last week's chapter. By the look of it, Fanfic was down so no one could access it and I was feeling so rough that I barely mentioned just how much I loved writing that chapter. Things are back to normal with the website now, as far as I can tell, and the chapter definitely is up and available to be read._

 _Just quick thing about last week's chapter that I didn't mention, I absolutely loved writing in multiple POVs. 'Link's' section of the courage battle was really fun to write, as was getting into the mind of someone other than Alarink and Zoelda._

 _But anyway, onto the notes about this chapter._

 _I love it. It's my second favourite chapter, to write and to read, after 12. As I said back in 12, I'm not sure if it tops Alarink's confession, I'm not sure if it's as good or whatever, but I do know I loved writing it. I know I loved the raw emotions that Zelda shows in this. (Little note in case it wasn't clear, from here on out in the story, Zoelda is Zelda again and Alarink is Link.)_

 _As mentioned many times, I do take inspiration from my situations to influence what I write. Obviously, I've never been in this kind of situation before, but it was very cathartic to write that level of raw emotional pain and loss at the start. And using that pain to fuel Zelda's fight with Ganondorf felt natural, as natural as using my own pain to inspire my writing. I think it was Zelda's swears at Ganondorf as they fought that felt the most real to me, they make no sense, they're harsh and foolish - they're how anyone as befuddled as she was in that moment would act._

 _I went way off plan with this, as I did with many of my chapters, but the one thing that I had planned from the moments I came up with Alarink's first words (which was before I even had any plan in place, his first words were his character before he even had an appearance, before I even decided he was half Twili) was Zoelda using them against Ganondorf at the very end. And it fits perfectly._

 _I must have written this chapter only two or three days before I started posting this up back in November, and now we're on the last week before it's finished. And I can honestly say, that this was the chapter when I truly began to understand Zoelda. Perhaps that's bad to say, perhaps I should have gotten to know her long ago. But in the beginning, this was a story about Alarink told from her perspective, she was in it for the ride. This was when she made it her own. And I'd obviously gone back to edit the older chapters after I finally understood who she was, but the original story looked rather different before this chapter was written._

 _Anyway, I think that's enough here. Next week, being the last chapter, will have a much longer note, I imagine. But I just wanted to express how much I loved this chapter and what it helped me achieve with Zoelda's character. Also, I really liked expanding on Alarink's death over the course of these three chapters rather than having it limited to one, he was the main character in this for me and I couldn't let him go down without showing how much his death impacted Zoelda._

 _But, that's enough for this note. I hope to see you all next week for the final chapter! In the meantime, have a nice week. See you one last time next one!_

 _~WWQ_


	21. 20 Link

_This is it, the last Chapter._

 _Thank you all for reading this until the end, I hope you enjoy the finale!_

* * *

The Legend of Link:

The Bastard Prince

 _20\. Link_

In time, Ganondorf drew his last breath and the Princess and her Knight recovered from the sight of Zelda's carnage, the sight and sound of her being so savage to him, even after the evil being left his body.

As they'd listened to her swear at Ganondorf, both the Princess and 'Link' had come to understand why the heroes of the past were often said to be silent; hearing the tales of how they had sworn so viciously at Ganon probably wouldn't have gone down well with the royals of the past.

And as they watched her cry at Link's side, his bloody, blue left hand in her grip as she did, they figured it was time to make her move on. Time to take her to Impax so they could return to their own world.

"Zoelda," the Princess went to put a hand on her shoulder before thinking better of it as she saw the mess of blood and eye fluid on it. "I think it's time we call the guards back into the palace. Do you want come with us?"

"No." Zelda replied curtly, not looking up as she did.

"It'll do you good to get out of this room, Zoelda. Get away from the smell of blood and death."

"Princess, please. Go get the guards if you want, but can I at least say my goodbyes in peace?"

The Princess looked down at her once more, a frown at her brow before shrugging and motioned to 'Link'. They gingerly stepped over pools of blood and littered debris as they made their way to the top of the Throne room stairs.

They looked back when they got to the top of the stairs, back on the carnage that littered the Throne room as the soft glow of twilight began to settle outside the window, bringing with it the first few stars of the night.

Blood, two bodies and the catalyst for the events of that week were all that was left behind as they started slowly down the stairs, back to their reality.

* * *

"Link?" Zelda said softly as she watched the Princess and her knight leave. All around her, the smell of blood and death lingered heavily, a disgusting and musty perfume that would have made most gag.

But Zelda only saw her own carnage. She had been the one to kill Ganondorf, the one to do it so violently; she had been the reason Link had to die.

In both a metaphorical (and real) way, their blood was on her hands.

And, as she slowly turned Link over so she could talk to his contorted, though still smiling, face; she realised she didn't really care that Ganondorf's blood was on her hands. It had been karma, retribution for a lifetime of crimes.

Link's on the other hand…

"Link, they say that people can still hear things up to ten minutes after their death. It's been a lot longer than that for you, but… there's a few things I want to say to you before I can go. So, if you're still around, would you mind listening, holding on for just a little longer?"

Zelda sighed and settled herself more comfortably, folding her legs under herself as she looked down at his body, folding his left arm over the cut on his torso as best she could, somewhat surprised to find it still bleeding gently as she removed the short sword and placed it in his hand. He had reverted to his natural form in death, his Twili bicolouration even more obvious with the cut that ripped it in two.

So, she took his black hand in both of hers and drew a deep breath, talking to a distorted version of his body behind watery eyes.

"Link. When I first arrived here, I could have so easily died in just a few moments. That Kagarok was close to having the best meal it had had in a long time. But then you were there, putting an arrow through its brain.

"Honestly, Link, I thought it was terribly impressive. I almost gave you a two syllable _'damn'_ right there and then until you started swearing.

"You shattered all my first impressions of you in one string of swears at a dead monster, Link. And I'm so glad you did. Because if I'd gone on to find you were just what my first impressions told me you were – a pure good, honest Hero of Hyrule like all the others – well, I probably wouldn't have liked you half as much. It definitely wouldn't have been as much fun. It would have been one of the most boring and dreadfully difficult weeks of my life. I-I don't think I could have gotten through it without you making your sarcastic quips at every turn. I don't think I would have lasted half as long if I hadn't had someone I could turn and talk to.

"And that's why I want to apologise for these last few days.

"Gods only know how hard these must have been for you, I truly can't imagine what my rejection did to you. But I also didn't want to lead you on, to let you believe that we might have had a future.

"I realise now that was stupid of me. You were going to die in two days, I should have given you something to cling onto at least. Something to make you want to live.

"… Did I really not make you want to cling on at all after I said I didn't love you? Was a solid friendship with someone who actually knew the real you not enough?

"Because I needed you, Alarink – no, Link.

"Damn, that's going to take some time. Though, I suppose it doesn't actually matter now, does it?

"The point is, I came to rely on you during the first two days. The days you showed me Hyrule and what era we were in. The days I told you who I was and you alluded to who you could be.

"And dammit Link, I thought you might have needed me too!

"I saw your face as you got your shirt ripped, I saw the look you gave me when you asked how bad it was, I saw everything that passed on your features as we travelled through Castle Town. I saw the pain at every nickname, I saw the anger that you felt towards them for not understanding, I saw the disappointment as former lovers joined the crowd and called you all kinds of crap.

"Dammit if I wasn't sympathetic! Gods, I felt for you, I just wanted to understand!

"That's why I asked who your mother was, what the nickname 'Bastard Prince' meant. I just wanted to understand you, Link. And perhaps if I had, I could have said all this to you before it was too late.

"But now here we are: you're dead and I'm sat in a pool of your blood.

"But hey – haha! – at least Ganon's dead!

"Oh, fuck tears, fuck crying…" Zelda wiped her face as she laugh/cried for a few moments before continuing.

"Look, Link. That third day, the time I spent without you? Really fuckin' hard. Yeah, getting to know the Princess was interesting, but Gods is she boring! She's exactly what I expected, and I didn't want that. With you I'd come to expect the unexpected, every step was an adventure, every breath a new lease on life!

"I guess I understand that now; it's easy to live as though there's no tomorrow when you know your days are limited.

"And yeah, learning Immy was alive was great, learning my part in this made me feel more clear on everything, but not knowing what was going to happen to you, not knowing why everyone kept saying they'd never seen you give into your destiny before, damn it made me worry.

"I guess I should have noticed my feelings sooner, the one more out of touch with them did anyway, you dick.

"I'm sorry for running on that fourth day, I'm sorry for letting Ganon get the better of me. I'm sorry for making you worry in the desert. But I'm sure as hell not sorry we got to spend the night together like that, that I got to tell you one of my secrets.

"So here's another secret, one you'll never hear: I loved seeing you get on the Princess' wick, I loved seeing you pull her down off that stupid royal pedestal she put herself on.

"And I loved seeing how shy you were about telling me you were Twili royalty. You know I pieced it together before we got to your realm, don't you?

"Twilight scared me, not for its darkness or weird inhabitants, but because it was new, it was something I didn't know how to handle. So I was grateful for your hand on my back every step of the way, for your sister showing me around before you came back from your talk with your mother.

"Before you came back, as your sister and I looked over the balcony, I couldn't help but wonder what it might have been like to be there by your side, presented and robed – your mother actually approving of me. And when I hugged you while you cried, I realised I could carry on hugging you without ever letting go.

"So why, in the name of Hylia, did I flinch away from that kiss when we came back?

"I can't answer that, I can only apologise for everything that became of us after. Because dammit if it didn't kill me at least half as much as it was killing you! I made a mess of everything because I thought we'd have less to lose if we came into this last battle without feelings for one another. But feelings don't disappear because we don't talk about them. That really only makes things worse.

"So, I'm sorry. More sorry that you can ever know that I didn't just tell you the truth. That I didn't let you go into this believing there could have been a future, if you could find a way to make one, to not die.

"I was scared, Link.

"I have been scared every day that I have been here, in this strange and foreign realm. And I let fear get the better of me.

"I didn't when I was fighting Ganon, not that that really matters I suppose…

"Because now I have to live in the knowledge that I never told you the truth, that I have both yours and Ganon's blood on my hands.

"... And I still don't know how the hell I'm going to get back to the UK.

"So all I can do is hope that it's my destiny to die here, next to you, never having to worry what I missed at home or face my guilt at not telling you the truth."

Zelda laid herself down next to Alarink, in a pool of blood that she could hardly bring herself to care about as she stared up at the vaulted ceiling, her eyesight still clouded by tears, so nothing was really discernible.

She smiled a sad smile much like his had been when he told her loved her one last time, a cry chuckled coming from her lips as she closed her eyes, as she prayed to wake up from this dream and be back on her Uni room floor with everything worked out, the biggest thing she needed to worry about being the exam she had next Tuesday. And yet, she also couldn't bear to be returning to a world where Alarink wasn't a part of her day to day life, where he'd just been a figment of her imagination, a dream she could wake up and forget.

She couldn't go back to a world in which this was just a story she kept to herself, a story she could never tell for fear of being seen as insane.

So she just cried, her heart aching, body numb, shuddering as she lay, creating little ripples in the blood pool she was in.

"I love you, Link. I'm sorry I told you too late."

* * *

"…"

"Do you really?"

"... Huh?" Zelda opened her eyes a few moments later, finding herself in a black space. Utterly, utterly alone. "Where am I?"

"That's not important," a voice said, a voice that sounded a lot like her mother's. But that couldn't be possible; her mother was dead.

Unless…

"Oh, I'm dead too?" Zelda asked, folding her arms a little angrily. "How did that happen? Falling rubble? Ganon wake up and stab me?"

"No, you had a heart attack." The voice confirmed, surprisingly calmly.

"Well, that's rather anti-climactic. What caused it?"

"What do you think?"

"I dunno, stress, panic, fear? An unknown heart condition that only reawakened in Hyrule?" Zelda snapped, not particularly enjoying this whole interrogation thing considering she was already dead.

"Snappy, aren't you?" The voice observed dryly, she could almost see the dead smile of Lanayru's Light Spirit in that moment. "What if I told you there's still time to save your life?"

"I can't say I'd be particularly excited about living one without you, mum."

"… As flattered as I am by that, I am not your mother." The voice said gently.

"Really?" Zelda asked in shock, sitting up and looking alert. "You sound just like her."

"This is just My voice, if anything, your mother sounds like Me."

"Who are you?" She asked the voice tentatively, slightly worried what it might reply with.

"That isn't important." There was a beat of a pause as Zelda scrutinised the darkness, looking for the owner of the voice. "What if I could tell you I could give you your mother back?"

"Don't toy with me." she snapped. If she was already dead, she didn't particularly want to be challenged or given hope.

"I'm not. There are two possible new scenarios I can make out of this one, ones that will allow you to live on."

"Why would you do that?" Zelda asked sceptically, a frown on her features; she didn't like being asked things that seemed too good to be true. "What's in it for you?"

"My line will live on in the normal world, if I let you live. My blood will continue to be split should the worst occur with the current royal family."

"Hylia?!" Said she to the voice incredulously, understanding who it belonged to.

"One and the same." Said Hylia's voice smugly. "These are the two possible scenarios, please, pick one so that you may live on, My daughter."

"Um, sure." Zelda replied dumbfounded to be talking to the Golden Goddess Herself.

"Option one, everyone who was killed under Ganon's curse can be revived. That means your mother, Link's father, everyone killed by the Pestilence, all of them can come back. But, the destruction of Ganondorf cannot take place in this generation. It may take millennia for the time to destroy Ganondorf to be right again and you and Link will never meet."

"What's Option two?" Zelda asked, not wanting to go on without knowing Link, without having met him even if that meant getting her mother back – she'd lost her ten years ago, she wasn't at peace with it, but she could live with her death, this last decade had taught her that.

"Option two brings Link back to life."

"Oh good, so I can either have my mother or I can have Link!" Zelda snapped sarcastically, crossing her arms and brooding with it.

"It does no one good to get everything they want, My daughter." Hylia said philosophically. "Here are the terms of Option two: everything is as it is now, but yours and Link's bodies are removed from the Throne room, leaving My Princess and Alarink as the only ones who know the truth of what happened in there – which they exaggerate to make people believe it was the two of them who killed Ganondorf, and that the two of you were never involved."

"The no remembrance route."

"Exactly. But the two of you will remember and be alive, you will have each other."

"And…?" Zelda pushed, expecting there to be something more to this that the Goddess was building up to.

"And… you will be back in your realm, taking Link with you."

Zelda thought it over. "But we'll still have our memories of everything that happened here? In this timeline, in this Hyrule?"

"Yes, but you will return to your room as though only the waking day has passed."

"Then I chose Option two." Zelda said surely, no room for doubt in her mind as she looked determinedly forward, not knowing where to direct this look in the darkness the Goddess had her suspended in.

"You are sure?" Hylia asked, Her voice pressing.

"Yes. I have lived without my mother, and everyone else has moved on over the last ten years, everyone can carry on without them coming back. And it could be disastrous to leave destroying Ganondorf until later. And I think, I need to remember what happened here, how I helped save a world that doesn't know or believe it. And I can't let Link go, I just can't."

"Very well." Hylia's voice now echoed all around the empty space, a terrifying and ethereal thing. "Then I must ask you to open your eyes."

"They are open?" Zelda replied, confused as she looked around.

"No." Hylia insisted, her voice becoming quieter.

"Open your eyes."

* * *

" _Open your eyes."_

It was muffled and distorted, coming through her ringing ears, breaking a cloud of fog in her head and an intense pain in her chest, a numbness in her left arm.

Slowly, and with tremendous effort, Zelda opened her eyes, blinking slowly and rubbing away the dried tears that had almost welded them shut with the back of her hand. She blinked as she looked at her hand, so utterly soaked and coated in dry, brown blood.

She sat up with a start, looking down at herself, the tatters of a purple dress soaked and still dripping blood and gross eye-fluid. The stink of perspiration, blood and death quickly filled her nostrils, causing her to gag and her eyes to water once again.

It had been real. That last week had been real. She'd really been in Hyrule.

" _Wake up, Link."_

Turning quickly in the direction of the noise, Zelda saw it was her TV, playing the opening sequence of Breath of the Wild; Link opening his eyes slowly, lying on a blue watery background. The headrush came only a second later, her head splitting as feeling began coming back to her left arm and chest.

Moaning and shaking herself, Zelda stood up and turned the TV and Switch off. Turning to look out the blinds, she could see the first stars beginning to glow outside the light pollution, the moon waxing to her fullest. Zelda could only blink at that, the moon had been waning again last night in Hyrule. Either the moon pattern was different in Hyrule or only the daylight had passed here in the UK.

Just as the Goddess had said.

Turning with her matted and gross hair in her hands, Zelda looked at her Uni room: same bed in the corner, same desk on the right wall, same wardrobe by the window, same bathroom door on the left wall. Same box for her TV leaning dangerously close to the radiator under the window, same new Switch set up next to it.

The only difference was the puddle of blood in the middle of the floor, and the man lying in it.

"Link!" She half shouted, remembering at the last second just how thin the walls were and not particularly wanting to alert her neighbour.

Quickly, Zelda was on top of Link, straddling him and pawing at his chest – it didn't really occur to her how incriminating this looked until later. The cut on his armour was still there, caked with still drying blood, but as she pulled it apart carefully, she noticed there was no cut on his chest, just that white scar that neatly cut his toned torso in two. It was only then that she realised he was back in his Hylian skin, somehow losing his natural Twili in the cross between realms.

"Link, speak to me!" Zelda called to him quietly, gently moving his head from side to side to check for caving in the back of it without moving it too much. But his skull was as full as ever, his hair still coated in drying blood, as were his ears and face. The look on his features was serene, a small smile on his lips and his eyes gently closed, the ruby on his circlet now crusted in dry blood.

"Link?!" She called again, gently slapping his cheek in an attempt to wake him up. "Link? Wake up!"

The door opened, and she could only stare in shock as the almost forgotten Danny stood in her doorway, a spare key in his hand.

As pissed as she was to see him, she did love the look on his face as he took in the scene: Zelda straddling a man covered in blood with a sword in his hand, herself also coated in blood and white fluid, the whole room stinking of blood and perspiration.

His eyes were huge, his mouth so agape she was surprised that it didn't split his head in two, and she was fairly certain that if he hadn't been gripping the door for dear life he probably would have fainted.

"Danny?!" She exclaimed at him before remembering to moderate her voice – for all her loud parties in the middle of the night, her neighbour wasn't particularly fond of Zelda spending her time shouting at her wannabe boyfriend. Clearing her throat, Zelda spoke in a more level volume, though her tone was still surprised and pissed. "What the fuck are you doing with a spare key to my room?!"

"What-what the hell is going on in here?!" Danny shrieked, hurting Zelda's tender ears and splitting head. "Who is _he?!_ Is he dead?!"

"Danny, moderate your voice!" Zelda said sharply to him, a hand going to her forehead and smearing it with more blood,

"Moderate my voice?!" Danny shouted, causing a bang on Zelda's wall.

"Yes, moderate your voice, dumbass!" Zelda's neighbour shouted through the wall.

"Sorry, Jenny!" Shouted Zelda back, glaring over at Danny in the door before hissing, "Do not piss Jenny off, for the love of the Goddesses."

"Goddesses?" Danny questioned, still not pulling his eyes away from the limp form of Link beneath her. "I thought you were on Gods at the moment, change your religion again?"

"Is now really the time to be making religious small talk?" She snapped at him, turning her attention back to Link, putting a pair of fingers to his neck to try and find a pulse.

"Did you kill him?!" Danny asked in surprise, watching her worried face as she fussed around for a pulse, eyes on the multiple swords on her person.

"Yes, I killed him for being an annoying pain in the arse who wouldn't leave me alone while I was playing Zelda," she turned to glare at him in contempt. "Of course I didn't kill him."

"Then why are you both covered in blood and why does this room absolutely stink?!"

"Uh… roleplay gone wrong?" Zelda joked innocently with a worried half smile, moving to lean her head against Link's chest, desperate to pick up any sign of life. If that Goddess had lied to her…

"Zelda, don't joke right now." Danny said clearly, his eyes hard as he continued to hold onto the door. "Is that man dead?"

Worriedly biting her lip, she lifted her head from his chest and looked over at Danny, wondering if it was time to take Link to the hospital.

Then came a gasp and a choke from below her and she looked down to see Link's pale turquoise eyes fly cloudily open. He was coughing and sputtering, the occasional spatter of blood flying into his hand as he began to raise himself up with Zelda in his lap, but he was alive.

Link was alive.

Zelda pulled him in for a crushing hug, heedless of the fact that his heart and lungs were still recovering. And despite the force of it, despite being in an entirely unfamiliar place and the rift that had formed between them – or perhaps because of it – Link hugged her back tightly, coughing into her ear every now and again.

They both forgot about the annoying British guy standing in her doorway, looking angrily between the two of them.

Finally having enough, Danny cleared his throat, causing the two of them to turn and look at him; they didn't let go of one another, just loosened their grip so Link could breathe a little easier.

"What is it, Danny? I'm a little busy right now." Zelda snapped at him, keeping a hand on Link's arm, as if to make sure he wouldn't suddenly dematerialise.

"I can see that," he snapped, glaring at the two of them and building himself up to shout profanities. "Is this what you've been doing instead of going to lectures today?! You've been riding a guy on your floor, rolling around in - what is that?"

"Oh, is that what's going on?" Link answered with that grin of his – marred by the fact that his teeth were covered in the blood he'd been coughing up - skimming a hand over the surface of the still wet blood beneath them. "Zelda, you really must wake me up the next time you're going to do me in blood."

"That's actually blood?!" Danny shouted in astonishment, looking as though he might faint again.

" _Fake_ blood," Zelda emphasised, giving Link a look to tell him to stop talking.

"Why are you fucking a man in fake blood?!"

"We're not fucking," Zelda said delicately, though she didn't blush or let go of Link's arm as she said it. "We're, uh… Practicing a scene!"

"A scene for what?"

"Uh… _Blood Brothers._ " She said off the top of her head, making both men look at her in confusion.

"Zelda, that's not what that play's about." Danny said simply.

"Yeah, well, I'm not an English student." Snapped she a little flustered, getting more and more angry as the seconds rolled by. "Look, Danny, why are you even here? Didn't I tell you to ta-ta this morning?"

"Ta-ta?" Link asked confused, scratching at the back of his head.

"Don't scratch that, it's where it got carved in." Zelda said gently, taking his left hand away in her right.

"Do you two have matching tattoos?!" Danny asked incredulously, causing the two of them to look down at their bloody hands. Sure enough, Link had a cyan outline of the Triforce on his dominant hand while Zelda had a golden one.

It turned out you couldn't get rid of some things.

"What do ya know?" Link said as he looked at his hand. "Thought that fucker had gone when it got torn out of my chest." He blinked for a moment before looking down at his chest then at Zelda. "Did that actually happen?"

"Yes, it did. I'll tell you in a minute." She replied gently before turning her attention fully onto Danny. "Danny, I've told you once, I've told you a _million times_ , but this time I say it for good. Would you just, please, FUCK. OFF."

Danny looked at her incredulously, like she was the one who had stolen a key and barged into his room without permission. "No. What the hell is going on?"

"Okay, I've had enough," Link sat up more, putting his hand in more of his own blood as he did. "Ugh, gross."

Then he stared Danny in the eye, a serious look on his face for once. There weren't many people who could stand up against that look.

"Listen here, kid." Link began. "I have had a horrible few hours. I've been killed, I've had my heart punctured, a lung ripped clean in half and many, many bones broken. And I might have stabbed a guy in the stomach. Did I get him?" He asked Zelda.

"Link, stop talking." She said quietly, watching the fear on Danny's face.

"No. Okay, so I might not have stabbed a guy in the stomach, that's currently up in the air, but I know he did throw me half way across a room and caved my skull in. I have been dead for the last hour, and now I'm in a whole new realm, head fuzzy, chest killing and ears ringing. I'm covered in my own blood and have a beautiful girl in my lap, who is also – incidentally – covered in my blood. I'm in no mood to kick your arse, and neither is she. So, would you do us both a solid and fuck on out of that door?"

"Why are you both covered in blood?"

"Were you even listening?" Link asked in exasperation just as the door opened further and a tall woman walked into the room. "We di- Hey, Impax!"

Impax walked into the room, took one look at the surprised two on the floor and sighed, grabbing Danny by the scruff. "Alright kid, let's leave them to it."

"Thanks, Impax, good to see you're still alive!" Link shouted after her.

"Link, don't shout please." Zelda said, putting her head in her hands once again.

"Wait!" Danny called, poking his head back around the door – no mean feat considering Impax was still holding onto his collar. "Just who are you?"

Alarink smiled his grin at him, "I'm Ala-" He stopped himself, looking around the barely furnished room and at the fact he was no longer in Hyrule. Then he smiled a true smile, the first of many.

"I'm Link, Bastard Prince of the Twilight Realm."

"Right, yeah, okay." Danny rolled his eyes and let the door close behind him. "Good luck with that wackjob, Zelda."

As the door slammed shut, Zelda sprang to her feet, bringing Link with her and beginning to look him over.

"Are you hurt? Still bleeding?" She fussed around him, checking all over his bloody armour for any other cuts or scrapes, any places where the blood was still obviously dripping or fresh.

"No, I think I'm- Zelda." Link grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to stop fussing and look at him, his worried pale eyes. "What happened? Where are we?"

"Oh, um…" Pulling a towel out from her wardrobe and spreading it across her bed, Zelda motioned for him to sit. Her carpet might be stained, but her bed needn't be. She sighed deeply before she began telling him how he had died, how she had cried, how she had used the Triforce and Master Sword to kill Ganondorf once and for all.

How the world had fallen still and bloody.

"Wow," Link breathed at the end of it, plucking his robe off and tossing his circlet onto her desk negligently. "So you killed Ganon, Hyrule's safe?"

"For a millennium or so at least, yes." Zelda answered, she had changed into a clean Zelda tank top – this one had wolf Link on it grinning ferociously – and leggings in her bathroom as she told the story through the ajar door, now looking for a pair of trousers or tracksuit bottoms that might fit Link. Finally, she just grabbed a big pair of tracksuits and an oversized hoodie with the Triforce printed on the back and threw them in his general direction. "That's the best I can do."

"You have a real Hyrule obsession, don't you?" He asked as he looked at the hoodie before heading into the bathroom.

"Here, we call it a Legend of Zelda obsession, or just a Zelda obsession."

"A Zelda obsession, eh?" Asked he from behind the ajar door as she began to roll all the blood spattered clothes into the towel, planning on taking them to be cleaned tomorrow, Impax would know a good place. "That's an obsession I can get behind!"

"Behave." Zelda said as she threw the towel into her washing hamper, sitting back on the bed and looking down at the blood and three swords on the floor. She had no idea what she was going to do about them.

"What happened after that though, how did we end up… Wherever we are?"

"Um, after it all, the Princess and Alarink went to tell the guards what happened. I stayed there and spoke to your corpse for a while…"

"Oh?" Link emerged from the bathroom wearing the clothes she'd given him, both of which were noticeably a little too tight. She pointed at the hamper for him to throw his bloody armour in. "What'd you say?"

"That's not important," Zelda lied, looking away from him as he sat on the bed next to her. "The important thing is, after I was done talking, I lay with you and had a heart attack."

"Oh shit, are you okay?" He asked her, forcing her to look over at him and smile sadly. They had both yet to shower, so he was still covered in blood, but he'd made an effort to clean most of it from his face, looking down at her with dripping eyelashes over concerned and exhausted eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Zelda looked away again, looking off at the window as she spoke next, telling him about the terms Hylia had given her.

"Why would you choose this?"

"Because now Hyrule is safe."

"No, Zelda," Link turned her chin to face him, looking her deep in her eyes that were once again tear studded as she willed him to understand. "Why would you choose me over your mother, I know how much you loved her."

"Because, Ala-Link." She corrected herself with a little shake of the head and a half laugh. "Aren't you happy to be alive again?"

"Well, I mean, I'd kinda made peace with death, and I've achieved everything I wanted to do in Hyrule now, so…" Link shrugged.

"You can make new dreams here, now." Zelda said, looking up at him with sad eyes, hoping he'd understand what she was saying without her having to say it.

"Where is here?!" He half shouted, clearly scared and nervous. "Why would you save me?"

"Because, believe it or not, you dick," Zelda smiled at him, eyes over run with tears but a genuine smile on her face as she realised it was time to start over again, time for her to show him the way in _her_ world. "I kinda fucking love you."

Wide eyed in surprise, Link could only stare at her, looking not unlike that meme of Skyward Link.

With a small chuckle, she lent over and gently pecked his lips, planning to pull him in for a gently hug afterwards. But he got there first, pulling her close to him with all the intention in the world of never letting go, even if it crushed her.

What could she do but laugh and let the tears roll yet again, hugging him back and whispering in his ear:

"Welcome to my world, Link."

* * *

 _AN:_

 _Well, we've made it. 20 weeks later, we've reached the end of the Legend of Link: The Bastard Prince._

 _Just a quick little note on this chapter itself. I finished it the day before I started publishing this back in November, so it's had less editing done to it compared to the earlier chapters yet at the same time has changed a great deal from what I originally thought it was going to be. The section where Zelda talks to Link's corpse wasn't in the original plan and came into being when I decided that she should have a confession monologue similar to Link's in 12. I like this one less, completely hated it for a while after I wrote it even, but it's really grown on me and I do think it fits the situation pretty perfectly._

 _Other than that, the ending was planned with the intention that I might write a sequel set some time in the future where Zoelda and Alarink are tasked with helping averting the 100 year gap in BOTW. Whether or not I actually do this is still up in the air, somedays I think it'll work, others not so much. But, I also have ideas for a story with the Princess and 'Link' as the main characters, a few chapters of their time together over the years._

 _Really, what all this talk of sequels amounts to is the desire for this not be over, for these characters to carry on, have another story that I can share with them._

 _I still carry them with me 20 weeks on from finishing this story. Alarink has given me some kind of confidence I can't quite explain and Zoelda has helped me discover that a character needn't be fully formed when she's first written, that can come with time. They've both influenced all the characters I have and will go on to write from here on out. And this being the first piece I've ever written over, well, 50,000 words long, it's been a real experience to update it week in and week out, to the point where I'm a little nervous to be free of this updating routine._

 _But, I was a mess most of the time I was publishing this. My notes have gone from upbeat to passive aggressive to depressive before finally settling on, I believe the best term would be awed. Initially I was frustrated with the number of people reading it being so low but after the supportive comments post 12, after opening up like that in the chapter that still means the most to me, I began to change. I am thankful that there is anyone here at all reading this now, that there have been people who have truly enjoyed it and left such wonderful comments - some of which see things that even I didn't._

 _When I first started publishing this, I was a depressed, just dropped out of Uni mess desperate to scrape some form of life together as I combated unemployment and tried writing scripts for the first time. Now, 20 weeks on, I have a job lined up, I'm still "in progress" in the script competition I entered (which I'm choosing to take as a good sign) and I'm beginning to feel like myself again. Hell, I saw an old friend on Tuesday who I hadn't seen since before chapter 12 and she told me I had more colour again, that I was more animated again, and that's done more for my confidence than anything else these last few weeks._

 _I still get low, I still have depressive moments, and I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to handle this story being finished since it was such a big part of the last year of my life. But I'm ready to let it go. I'm ready to finally put the year I spent with this story behind me and to start moving forward. I'll still come back and read it from time to time, I can't let it completely go, but I'll begin to move on._

 _So, I just want to say one last thank you to you all for reading, reviewing, enjoying and all that. I really do appreciate you all and hope that things have improved for you these past 20 weeks as well. If not, please continue to have hope - and if not hope, something enjoyable to read or escape into._

 _I'll be taking a break from publishing fanfic for a while, though I do have one lined up (Fire Emblem again this time) for when I come back. I need to spend some time with my own stories before I begin expanding on others again, I think._

 _Regardless, thank you all once again. If you do review or anything now that it's complete, I will still read it and be grateful for you taking the time to do so. If you do want to chat at all, come find me on Twitter and I'll be available (WritesWithQuill) but otherwise, I wish you all the best._

 _Thank you for joining me!_

 _~WWQ_


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